Having delivered successful hits with Mr and Mrs Ramachari and Raajkumara, director Santhosh Ananddram now hopes to only raise it further with his next outing, Yuvarathnaa. For this he has joined hands with Puneeth Rajkumar and Hombale Films for the second time. A commercial director, his idea of filmmaking is to entertain viewers with inspirational stories — something he has followed in his first two films.
For his third, the director has based the subject on life, society, and centres around the injustice in the education and privatisation of schools. The film will have a mega release on April 1. While the director categorises Yuvarathnaa as a realistic action-entertainer, Santhosh also says it’s a story narrated in a simple way that can be understood by a commoner. Which is why he feels this makes it commercially viable. “Yuvarathnaa, which highlights relevant and important topics, is driven with neat punch lines, solid action sequences, love and emotions, all of which make it a wholesome entertainer. It also comes with a social message. Now we have to wait and see how the masses react,” he says.
The tagline of the film, ‘Power of Youth’, describes the story. “It is related to the plot, and underlines the importance of youth. Today, youth is connected digitally. They should be a force rather than a diversion. Youth should be motivated to head in the right direction. This is what I am trying to throw light upon,” says Santhosh.
With Puneeth Rajkumar taking the lead, Yuvarathnaa brings together an ensemble cast and has well-known faces, including Sayyeshaa as the heroine, Dhananjay as the antagonist, along with Prakash Raj and Radhika Sarathkumar to name a few. “In a timeline of two-and-a-half hours, it is always to good to have actors communicate a story in a short period. That is why we chose big names as part of our film,” explains Santhosh.
The actor-director and production house, Hombale Films, are teaming for the second time. The rapport that Santhosh, Puneeth and producer Vijay Kiragandur share has only gotten stronger. “We have mutual respect for each other which has helped. As for Puneeth, he has always been a writer and director’s actor. He turns a director’s vision into reality,” he says.
Santhosh is associating with music director S Thaman, editor Jnaanesh B Matad, and DoP Venkatesh Anguraj. “Thaman has been a favourite of both mine and Puneeth. He is an excellent music composer, and his rerecording for Yuvarathnaa is completely out of the box. Editor Jnaanesh has previously worked with K M Prakash and has independently worked for Geetha.
This is the first time he has individually handled a big film. Going forward, he can be an editor that Sandalwood can look up to. As for the cinematographer, Venkatesh Anguraj, we both had previously associated in Raajakumara,” he says, adding that Venkatesh has “embedded a realistic subject in commercial frames” for this film. The film is hitting around the time when the second wave of Covid-19 has hit. But amidst this, Santhosh hopes to see one change. “Encourage or guide children and youngsters based on their skills,” says the director.