When an actor of Darshan’s stature says something, however mundane it might be, people stop and take notice. So when there were signs of delay in the actor’s film Airavata, Darshan was the last person to be quiet about the matter. He openly expressed his displeasure with the way the film was progressing. Speaking to City Express Darshan said, “To many, I am the hero of Airavata but I feel I have been reduced to a junior artiste in the film. I and producer Sandesh Nagaraj have been made scapegoats for the issues that the film is going through. Though we want to make the film as planned, director AP Arjun is just not organised. Having worked with him for Airavata, we have come to the conclusion that he is an unprofessional and egotistical person.”
While the film is nearing completion — with one fight and three songs left, which includes a duet with heroine Urvashi Rautela — the end of shoot seems to be nowhere near in sight. Apparently, the crew had planned a song schedule in Slovenia from June 3. Since, they could not get the dates of the actress, they had to postpone the schedule further. “We cannot blame Urvashi because she was actually booked by the director from last November to March this year, but the slot was not utilised properly. Today, more than her remuneration, the producer has spent on her flight tickets. I have been requesting other senior actors too for their dates. Anant Nag’s call sheet of 10 days has now become a 30-day schedule. There were days when the producer paid the daily artiste remuneration even though the shoot did not take place. Arjun is still getting the introduction song from V Harikrishna. Thus reflects his disorganised ways. I don’t have any answer to my fans who have been asking me about Airavata,” says the distressed actor
According to Darshan if it was not for his producer-friend, he would have dropped out of the film by now. “Sandesh is a good friend of mine. So I am trying to complete the film for him. While both of us are trying to calm each other, there are a few people who are taking advantage,” he says and adds that he hopes to not have a face-off with the director.
“But it is uncomfortable to know how one person can spoil the whole atmosphere. I am prepared to teach him a lesson. Otherwise, other directors will take me for granted and think I am available to them anytime,” says Darshan.
Darshan has given 10 days of his schedule to complete his pending film Viraat. “For everybody, I am the busiest star, but I have free dates. So, I have requested the makers of Viraat to start shooting from June 1 so that I can complete that film before I get set to start Jaggu Dada from August,” he says.
Arjun on airavata
The shoot which started last August, is still to be completed and according to director Arjun, although 10 months of schedule have passed, there were only six months of actual work because of holidays, the film workers’ strike and other issues. “However, even before the shoot, I had requested 130 days from Darshan as I needed that time with the star and I have stuck to my time. If everything goes as per plan, I will start the dubbing by next week. I plan to hand over the first copy by July 30 and would want to release it in August,” says Arjun who has been juggling his time on the edit desk with computer graphics design.