After a hiatus, Raghavendra Rajkumar is back on the silver screen with Ammana Mane. All credit goes to director Nikhil Manju, who, in fact, had written the film’s story keeping Raghavendra in mind, admits the director, who, through his film, will send across strong messages.
"My father had a stroke and I have seen the difficulties that he went through. Secondly, the mother-son attachment is something I have personally experienced. When I came up with this line, only Raganna was with me. Since he has also been very attached to his mother, I felt he would be able to bring alive the character,” says Nikhil, who revealed that Raganna let go of two other projects for this film.
“The title did the trick. He not only connected with the film, but also gave me a hug, when I mentioned the title,” the director recalls.
The film runs in two tracks - Rajiva, the character played by Raganna is a PT master who tries to attain the perfect work-life balance, and at home with his mother, wife, daughter and society. On the other hand, as a father, he is trying to get a seat for his daughter, which is rejected on technical grounds. “How he fights a legal battle explains the other side of the story,” the director explains.
The film took eight months from the time they started the scripting process, and was shot in a span of 30 days. “The film has three songs, which blend with the re-recording. All of them have Raganna rendering his voice,” reveals Nikhil.
Apart from Raganna, the film has B Jayashree playing the mother’s role while Manasi Sudhir plays the hero’s wife.