Playing with dons
M.L. NARASIMHAN
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Director-cum-producer Bharath Parepalli's latest film `Cheekatilo... The Settlement' is a family entertainer set in the backdrop of the underworld.
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GUNS 'N' ROSES Sai Kumar and Vinod Kumar in the action-packed 'Cheekatilo...The settlement'
The huge bungalow makes a statement about its owner being filthy rich. The dιcor in the drawing room is elegant. A lanky man rushes into the hall from an anteroom. He is all excited and looks like he's got interesting information to share with a savvy but tough looking guy. As the former rushes into the room, ready to spill the beans, director Bharath Parepalli orders "cut" with a satisfied grin. The whirr of Mahidhar's camera dies down as the unit takes a brief break to shift the lighting and camera positions.
The location is the popular Visweswarayya House in Jubilee Hills. The shoot is part of Cheekatilo... The Settlement, a film being made by the recently-launched The Dreams Company. Bharath shot to fame with his debut venture, a biopic on Dr. Ambedkar, and later directed 10 commercial potboilers. He has now turned producer "to give life to stories that he had always dreamt of making without any pressures and compromises". "That way I will have total freedom to express my thoughts on celluloid," he feels. "Look at the title, it has already attracted attention. The film is a love story set in the backdrop of the underworld. Vinod Kumar makes a comeback in a negative role and Sai Kumar plays a foreign-returned youngster in search of his lady love (Gulabi, a debutante).
His search takes him into the world of two dons (played by Vinod Kumar and Kota Srinivasa Rao), who control the city. And this leads to some gripping incidents that end in an exciting climax." The shoot continues. The lanky man is Ayyappa Sarma, youngest brother of hero Sai Kumar in real life. In reel life, he is playing his friend.
With the camera closing in on him, Ayyappa tells Sai he has seen the picture of his girl friend (Gulabi) in the don's room. Sai, who had joined the don (Vinod Kumar) as part of his mission to find out the whereabouts of the girl, is now sure that she must have been kidnapped by the don. "Watch the action scenes (choreographed by `Horseman' Babu), they are mind blowing," remarks Bharath.
"This mafia-based love story runs mainly on its taut screenplay. Songs find a place too in this action flick. We shot one song in this schedule and plan to shoot four songs at Mahabaleshwar in our next schedule, after filming an item number on Abhinayasri, Sai Kumar, Ayyappa and others. Lalith Suresh has composed the six songs."
Even as Bharath parts with the details, he watches Sai Kumar expressions as the hero guesses that Gulabi must be right in that bungalow. An old hat at giving dramatic expressions, Sai okays the shot in the first take.
A satisfied Bharath says, "It is not one of those violence-ridden mafia movies. There's entertainment in store for the entire family audience."
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Entertainment
Bangalore
Chennai and Tamil Nadu
Delhi
Hyderabad
Thiruvananthapuram
