When Tarun Sudhir firmed up his resolve to direct a film, he had also made up his mind to raise the bar for grandeur. With Chowka being his debut as a director, Tarun has ensured that his initial determination did not fade away. Having roped in an ensemble cast with four heroes and four heroines, he has gone further ahead and signed up Darshan, the current leading actor of Sandalwood.
City Express, in its last report about Chowka, had mentioned that the Challenging star was playing a vital role and will figure in a major fight sequence too. The director has completely justified the star’s presence by bringing in Prabhakar of Baahubali - The Beginning fame. Popularly known as Kalakeya, it will be his first foray into Sandalwood.
The two will be seen in a face off picturised as an extensive fight sequence, the shooting of which took place recently. According to Tarun, he wanted to justify the superstar’s presence in his movie and wanted to bring in a character, who was equally strong.
“Prabhakar has a strong built and is 6.4 foot tall. The actor carries a different image after Baahubali and is a known name in every house with every child talking the gibberish language that he spoke in the film. So we decided to have him in our film,” explains the first-time director.
Tarun adds that though the film runs on varied emotions, the script did demand a major action sequence.
“This particular sequence not only brings in the twist, but also takes the film forward.” The fight sequence was choreographed by Vijay master, who is now famous in the Telugu industry.
Tarun Brings Latest Technology to Sandalwood
Tarun has always been known for his technical brilliance in Sandalwood and for the first time, he could bring in 25 technicians apart from using a new technology for the fight sequence. “I have used 50 cameras for the high octane action sequence, which is a first in Kannada cinema. Such technology was used by Shankar for Tamil film Anniyan and similar technology was used for a song sequence in Boys. It is called Time Slice shot or Bullet time shot. It is very expensive and time consuming since one can only take two or three shots per day,” explains Tarun.
The 5-minute fight has cost the producer Rs 1 crore but it garnered a lot of attention from the industry technicians and directors, who visited the sets just to witness the set up. “The camera alone cost ` 27 lakhs, which was flown from Mumbai along with a 12-member crew,” says Tarun.
Close Ties with Darshan
According to Tarun, he was always sure to cast Darshan in his film and got 9 days of his schedule, which was confirmed one-and-half-months ago, but was kept a secret.
“I share a close relationship with Darshan. Our fathers were good friends. I have been part of their films like Jothe Jotheyalli and Navagraha which were produced under their banner. Darshan is more like a brother to me, just like Nanda Kishore. The particular character in Chowka was written for him and it is something he has not done till date, which will be one of the highlights. Getting Darshan’s date is always a challenge but luckily I got to direct a superstar in my very first film is definitely thrilling,” says Tarun.
The 50th film coming out of Dwarakish Pictures is now gearing for the audio release.