'I worked on my expressions'

Duniya Vijay-starrer Bheema Theeradali, that hit the screen on Friday, draws its inspiration from a real life incident.

The story traces the life of a rowdy sheeter who fights a lone battle to save his villagers from unscrupulous landlords. The film also has Pranitha, who plays Vijay’s love interest, and debutant Prajwal Poovaiah.

Vijay, who plays the lead, says that he has put in a lot of hard work to make the character appear as real and natural as possible. “It’s a true story so I did a bit of homework to get into the skin of the character. I researched the character and I understand that he was basically a good man but circumstances forced him to turn criminal. I don’t think it’s right to label anybody as a criminal,” Vijay tells Metrolife.

Vijay adds that he had to polish his accent to get the perfect North Karnataka style of speaking and his mannerisms had to be perfect. “There’s no make-up. I worked a great deal on my expressions,” he explains.

But Vijay says he doesn’t want to jump to any conclusions as to how the movie will do, and prefers to wait for people’s feedback.

Pranitha, a who plays the female lead, feels her character was quite challenging. “There is a scene in the movie where I had to wear a sari and jump onto a running horse. That scene was quite tough but I managed to get it right in the first take. A lot of the scenes were shot in dense forests and the situations we shot in were pretty tough,” says Pranitha, who plays a rich spoilt NRI kid who visits her native village and sympathises with the villagers when she sees how they are being exploited.

“I play Vijay’s love interest and fall in sync with him when I see that he struggles for justice for the people of his village. My family, who are landlords, contribute to the villager’s misery and I end up taking the villager’s side,” she adds.   

This is Prajwal Poovaiah’s first ever release in any language. “It’s unfortunate that I am not in Bangalore for my very first release because I am stuck shooting in Chennai. But I am thrilled and excited about having got a chance to work with so many senior actors. Working with Vijay was a learning experience,” she observes and adds that she hopes to take up more projects in the Kannada film industry.  The film is directed by Om Prakash Rao.