Filmmaker PN Sathya, who came into the limelight with Darshan-starrer Majestic 15 years ago, has till date been known as a mass director. Known for his films such as Daasa, Shastry, Gooli and Shivajinagara to name a few, the director is back with Bengaluru Underworld.
Starring Aditya, it is yet another mass movie created by Sathya. In a conversation with City Express, the director says that though the mindset of audience has changed, the ‘mass’ trend remains. “I believe that mass is entertainment,” he says.
Bengaluru Underworld is the director’s 24th film, on which he started work last year. He was on a break from the industry because of a few health issues. While the director has never publicly shared about his medical condition, people in the know say that this is his rebirth.
Sathya does not speak much about this and shrugs it off saying, “Yes, I did have health problems and they caused delay of four months. I am glad to be back from the brink and continue to follow my passion.”
The director keeps away from the industry trend and was keen on working on an underworld subject. He says, “Tell me a day or a month in which there was no fight in this world.
Every other day, we hear of a jailbreak, gun shots and the mafia. Even though I started work on this film 8 months ago, I still hear of the same kind of incidents even today. So the underworld and its activities will never be history and, they continue though they are rarely exposed.”
But Sathya refuses to label the movie as a gangster movie. “My film is fictional and the best part of telling a story of the underworld is that it is laced with sentiments. Today’s audience will not just go to theatres based on a title, they look for good content,” says the senior director. “Therefore I have paid attention to the story, background score, songs, cinematography and editing. I am sure that they are different from the usual.”
He believes that roping in Aditya will work wonders. “The actor, after a long time, has done an excellent job,” he says. “He will catch everyone’s eye with his attitude. I am sure our combination will be in demand after Bengaluru Underworld.”
Why are only a few actors like Aditya doing movies dealing with underworld? Sathya says, “Every commercial hero is tagged as an action hero and he can’t seem to shake it off. Aditya’s previous films such as Deadly Soma and Edegarike have placed him in that bracket. Then there is also his body language and behaviour, he is tailormade for films with rowdyism. I am confident that after Bengaluru Underworld, he will have at least 25 to 30 scripts lined up and all will deal with rowdyism,” he says.
Even Sathya had tried to move away from ‘mass’ subjects, and even did films such as Thangigagi with Darshan, and he was met with disappointment.
“After Thangigagi, I did films like Gooli with Sudeep and Shastry with Darshan, which were sensational hits. By now, I have learnt how to read the audience’s pulse and what they expect from me and I plan to head to that direction,” he says.
The film features Payal Radhakrishna and has Bhavana in a key role. “Bhavana plays a role with dual shades and has delivered an extraordinary performance,” says Sathya, who has roped in Tamil artistes such as Daniel Balaji for Bengaluru Underworld. “He plays a police officer’s role.”
The film produced by G Anand will be distributed under Thoogudeepa Productions. Bengaluru Underworld has music by J Anoop Seelin and cinematography by Aryavardhan.