Show must go on, but with precautions: Kabza director R Chandru
The COVID-19 lockdown might have put cinema under halt, but work has not stopped for R Chandru. The director, who is currently bankrolling Kabza starring Upendra, says in the world of entertainment the show must go on. “But with precautions,” he says. The action-drama, based on the underworld theme set in the 1980s, the film will be out in seven languages. It is made in Kannada and Telugu and will be dubbed and released in Tamil, Malayalam, Hindi, Marathi, and Bengali. The director has completed editing the footage (40 per cent) he has.
“Apart from editing, I have also gotten ready with the trailer and a teaser of the film,” says Chandru, who has also worked on the dialogues in other languages. All of this has been done online. “Fortunately, my residence and office are in the same building. I have 15 associates who are currently working in the director’s team, and we regularly started our work at 7 am. We are still following the same pattern, but not on the sets. We come online and discuss what needs to be done for the day,” he shares.
The director is also in touch with Upendra regularly, updating him on the film’s progress, and discussing in detail about Kabza. “We had come up with a large jail set up at Minerva Mills, at a huge cost. We will resume shoot with the jail episode, as and when we get permission from the government,” says Chandru, who shared the latest poster of the film, which released during this quarantine time has now gone viral. Chandru who is bankrolling the film under the banner Siddheshwara Enterprises has already got himself and the team prepared for post the lockdown.
“Since it is a big-budget film, we will have at least around 300 to 500 people, including junior artistes and technical crew. So, we have decided to sanitise the entire floor every day, as well as the equipment that will be brought in for shooting. Like before, we will restrict the entry. We will also have temperature guns to check that those visiting the film set as well. Sanitisers, masks...we will be taking all the precautions.
Kabza has Ravi Basrur as music director, and cinematography by Arjun Shetty. Meanwhile, Chandru is yet to finalise the film’s heroine. With Upendra in the lead, the film consists of a host of actors, including Kabir Duhan Singh, Kota Srinivas Rao, Jaya Prakash, Kaat Raju, Subbaraju, Avinash, and M Kamaraj, all of whom play antagonists.