Indrajit Lankesh believes that Indrajit Lankesh’s film Luv U Alia is based on firm friendships that even adversity cannot shake.
The director asserts that though the film has actors like Bhumika Chawla, Chandan, Sangeetha Chauhan, Sunny Leone and Srujan Lokesh, Sudeep and Ravichandran are the heart and soul of Luv U Alia. “My association with Ravichandran began much before I entered the industry. My father, P Lankesh would always address him as Veeraswamy’s son. When I started the All-Rounder magazine, he was the chief guest. I still remember when Ravichandran took the mike, all he said was, ‘Lankesh sir, you are blaming us for using English in Kannada films and you have named a Kannada magazine as All-Rounder!’ My father in reply said, ‘Veeraswamy maganada Ravichandran avare, please tell a Kannada word for All-Rounder and I will keep it.’”
According to the director, Ravichandran always supported him and when he made Thuntata, he showed the first copy to Ravichandran even before it went to the Censors. “He wrote the review in our magazine even before its release and also complimented me. In fact he gave me the privilege to direct his brother Balaji but things didn’t come out as expected,” he says.
Indrajit affirms that there are few people in the industry as good as Ravichandran when it comes to technicalities of filmmaking. “It is definitely an honour to work with him. I was glad to hear from a couple of people in the Censor Board that after Luv U Alia, Ravichandran will get roles like the character he has portrayed,” he says.
Talking about Sudeep, Indrajit minces no words when he says that they had their creative differences, but Sudeep was never keeps anything in his heart. “Sudeep is my first friend in the industry. We grew up together. We used to play badminton and met almost every day. Those days he used to do part time modelling. Whether it is badminton, films, modelling, or cricket, Sudeep was always a passionate guy. He in fact wanted to be a director first than an actor,” Indrajit reminisces adding that he was the first person to whom Sudeep showed Huccha. “I even asked him as to how he can do a film with a title like Huccha. Fortunately it became a blockbuster. And, when it was his turn to watch my film Monalisa, he asked me the same question,” Indrajit says.
In fact, the director wanted to make a film with Sudeep after watching his acting skills in Huccha. “But he played a guest appearance in my film Thuntata and all that was needed was a phone call. He never asked me about his role,” says the director. Meeting Sudeep after 15 years, Indrajit asked the star whether he could be part of Luv U Alia. “He agreed and did so without asking me about his role,” he says.