A high voltage entertainer
M.L. NARASIMHAM
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Mahesh Babu plays a student for the first time in his career in `Synikudu'.
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FABULOUS SET The making of Synikudu
At the Ramoji Film City, in a specially crafted fabulous set by art director Ananda Sai, a song is being filmed on lead stars Mahesh Babu and Trisha for Vyjayanthi Studios (P) Ltd.,'s Synikudu directed by Gunasekhar. The film is produced by C. Aswini Dutt and presented by C. Dharmaraju.
Raju Sundaram composed the steps to Harris Jayaraj's tune and Chandra Bose's lyric. The song Baila Bailamo... is played from the nagara and the ace choreographer shows the twirls and turns to Mahesh and Trisha before the take. Once he says start camera there is pin drop silence in the set and cinematographer Balasubramanian's camera rolls to film the lead pair's fast paced steps.
Director Gunasekhar who had conceived the situation watches the shoot from the monitor screen.
He is one director in whose works one can find the excellence of all the 24 crafts of film-making. It is the third film he is working with Mahesh (Okkadu and Arjun) and the second film with producer Aswini Dutt (Choodalani Undhi). Interestingly it was Dutt who introduced Mahesh as a hero with Rajakumarudu and the duo is back after a long sabbatical.
The shoot is going on at a fast pace as the Athadu pair vibe well on screen besides being good performers too. It is the pre-climax sequence we are told. Watching Mahesh, the tech savvy film-maker says, "He is a director's actor. Once a director works with him he would like to repeat him. Mahesh plays Siddhardha, a student for the first time in his film career. Though the title is Synikudu, it has no military backdrop or the hero is an army personnel. Nor the theme has any political connotations. What we would like to convey in this high voltage entertainer is that every responsible citizen is like a soldier. But what happens generally is that though we see many ills in society we control our anger and just be passers by watching or hearing about the atrocities. The one who vents his anger and fights the vested forces is a true soldier. Our hero Siddhardha is one such. He is an ordinary citizen but rises to great heights when the situation warrants. To put it in a nutshell, the theme borders on social awareness combined with a youthful love story."
The thrills (composed by Peter Heins), he says, are a major high light. "They are integral part of the story and convey the emotions. I avoided CG work in the action scenes as when the last time me and Mahesh worked together for Arjun, though my hero had done the action episodes without a dupe or CG support, some commented that the risky scenes were graphics. In reality it was not so. This time I do not want such comments to happen when Mahesh does them himself taking such risks." A few weeks ago from an unfinished 14 storeyed building near Gemini Flyover in Chennai Mahesh was seen precariously hanging from the 12th floor for an action episode. No dupe... no graphics... but real that made many vehicles on the flyover stop and the commuters watch in total disbelief.
"The story is set in Warangal and Hyderabad. One of the high points is the Warangal fort set in ruined condition created so authentically by Ananda Sai. We shot the night scenes lighting the entire set. No wonder if the archaeological department gears up for a light and sound show at the real fort after watching the scenes from our film," he smiles. "We also created a village with hundreds of houses. A cyclone hits the village and the hero saves many lives. We did not use graphics or depended on stock shots from the documentaries, but we brought special equipment from Chennai and Mumbai to create the cyclone effect."
Irfan Khan plays the main villain. "He hails from the theatre, and is very choosy about his film roles. It is one film he signed immediately after hearing the story and his character."
Aswini Dutt plans to release his magnum opus on November 29.
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