Lover boy turns action hero
M. L. NARASIMHAM
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Don't go by the title `Jagadam', insist its makers. Despite having action sequences, the film tells a love story.
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SUBLIME MOOD Ram-Isha starring `Jagadam' has many surprises.
Ram kick-started 2006 with a silver jubilee hit, Devadasu. We spotted the young hero shooting at the picturesque Araku valley with the new heroine, Isha, for Aditya Arts maiden venture, Jagadam, directed by Sukumar of Arya fame. The mid-winter sun is benevolently cool. The chill breeze mingled with the aroma from the rare flowers in the green valley presents the perfect ambience to film a romantic duet on the film's lead pair.
To our surprise, instead of a choreographer we found stunt master Vijay on location. "You have many more surprises in store," says producer Aditya Babu, receiving us with a warm smile. He is just 22 and says passion towards cinema brought him to the field. As he is talking to us, a group of goons challenge Ram. The hero is cool and composed. The heroine looks perplexed and so are the hero's friends standing at a distance. Sukumar supervises the rehearsal before filming the shot.
Cinematographer Rathnavelu, who worked for the director's debut film, is all set to shoot the sequence. "These are villain's henchmen," informs the producer. Ram uses his karate skills to make the ruffians kick the dust. In between the shots, the director, the stunt director and the cinematographer discuss the angles and the expressions. The pieces are put together to create a spell-binding action scene by the editor Srikar Prasad.
Says Aditya, "The action scenes look close to real life situations. Though we have a few superbly composed action episodes, it is not an action film. There is a sublime love story. Ram plays the boy-next-door and his character can be easily identified by the 18-30 age group.
As for the heroine, after a long search we identified a girl closer to the director's vision. We went to Mumbai four times, scanned nearly 5000 photographs, short listed them to 150 and then filtered it down to 15. Yet, we were unable to get someone of our choice."
Finally, Isha was selected when the director spotted her photograph in a magazine. On choosing her, he says, "Generally, the body language of models is stiff owing to ramp walks but Isha hasn't done much modelling. That helped Sukumar to groom her according to the role. As for Ram, I saw Devadasu on the 10th day after its release, even before it was declared a hit. Instantly I felt that he suited this film."
Aditya then tells us that he approached Sukumar after watching Arya.
"I liked the story he narrated to me. We worked on the script for over a year before commencing the shoot. We began shooting after preparing the complete script."
Devi Sri Prasad's music is an added attraction. "To give better quality, we are shooting the film using super 35 mm camera and use digital intermediate technology. I believe if you make quality films, people appreciate and that paves the way for box office returns."
Saranya is cast as the hero's mother and Ranam fame Venu as the hero's friend. Prakash Raj is cast in a positive role while Pradeep Rawat plays the antagonist.
Director A.S. Ravikumar Chowdary marks entry as an actor in a negative role. "And the men with whom the hero is fighting now are sent by these antagonists," concludes Aditya Babu.
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