Nectar of life
M.L. NARASIMHAM
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Films `Amrutha Varsham' is based on a real life incident in Bangalore.
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THE CAST Amitabh Bachchan, Ramya and Samir Dattani on the sets of `Amrutha Varsham.'
What happens when a handsome guy and a bubbly girl meet? It creates the magic of love, of course! But there is more to these promos in ace Kannada filmmaker Nagathihalli Chandrasekhar's Amrutha Varsham than a mere teenage love story. The film is semi-dubbed from the Kannada super hit Amrutha Dhare, which is running packed houses in Bangalore for the past 38 weeks.
Being a teacher and a literary persona, Chandrasekhar looks at things from a humane angle. He was teaching Kannada literature in a city college in Bangalore for 15 years before he took to films after studying it in Hollywood. His strong point is that he effectively conveys the message through aesthetically made commercial blockbusters. P. Kiran of Anandi Arts was bowled over by the film and decided to share his joy with the Telugu audience. " I was moved by the content. The performance of Sammir Dattani and Ramya was so good that I decided to retain their portions. . I re-shot the rest portions with Telugu actors because I wanted to make a Telugu film out of the original," explains Kiran. Jayasudha, Nasser, Dharamavarapu Subrahmanyam and Sunil were some of the actors roped in for the re-shoot. "We also retained the songs composed by Mano Murthy, but added one more song tuned by Kalyani Malik." Kiran is a happy man as within a couple of days of its release the film's music was a sell out. In a telephonic conversation from Bangalore, Chandrasekhar, who is busy giving finishing touches to the script for his tenth film Mathadu Mathadu Mallige, said, "It was very kind on the part of the Telugu producers to ask my help in the re-shoot. After a discussion, I gave a few suggestions. I have a Telugu connection as one of my collections of short stories was translated into Telugu. And of course, discerning movie buffs in Andhra Pradesh know me through my dubbed film, America America." .
As a filmmaker, he feels that a filmmaker also has a social responsibility besides entertaining the audience. "But at the same time, I do not make typical art films. I am trying to bridge the gap between the class and the mass audience. Amrutha Varsham, which is a poignant tale of a young girl full of verve and joy fighting the odds of life so courageously, is based on a real incident that took place in Bangalore." . How did he choose his lead actors? "Perhaps due to the traits of a teacher, ) I always want to encourage new talents, be it actors or technicians. Ramya was trying hard to work in a film with me and this role suited her. Same with Sammir Dattani, who made his debut with my Kannada film, Nanna Preethi Hudiyaga and I changed his name to Dhyan for the Kannada audience." The surprise package of the film is the special appearance of Amitabh Bachchan. "The selection of Big B for the role is no gimmick. We needed a legend to convey a strong message.Who else can make a better impact than Amithji? When we approached him with the concept, he immediately agreed to it. He didn't take any remuneration out of the love for Kannada people. His presence in the film made all the difference."
The Telugu audience too can listen to the Big B's booming voice as he delivered his dialogue in English in his brief but brilliant six-minute appearance.
And Ramya has an interesting anecdote to tell about Amitabh. Just like other actors, she was nervous about working with the legend on the first day.
To ease thing out, Amitabh asked her to show her palm and when she did, the legend laughed and joked that this is an excuse he finds to touch girls hands. And that, of course, did the trick. " In one scene he has to hug me, but I am too short to reach to his shoulder length. Even before the unit could procure a small bench for me to stand, he spotted one and brought it for me. It is a learning experience working with him," she recalls.
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