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Dinesh Baboo has always been a thinking man's movie-maker. He brings to his films a sensibility that is the product of his profound reading.
No wonder Sandalwood is pinning its hopes on Baboo to ensure that his School Master which is set to release on January 22 shall be a perfect swansong of the Late Vishnuvardhan.
Besides, Baboo too has an extra responsibility in ensuring that School Master lives up to the expectations of Vishnu's fans. It was with Vishnu's Suprabhata that Baboo arrived with a bang in Sandalwood.
Suprabhata gave Vishnu a makeover and helped the actor break out of the dishum-dishum stereotype he had been pigeon-holed into. School Master too is expected to redefine the actor, given the film's ambitious subject.
School Master seeks to underline a lofty message: No child should be made to feel inferior because he or she scores less than his or her peers. And Baboo has carved out a canvas that promises to to be unprecedented right from the word go.
“The opening scene has Vishnuji walking in with a bundle of papers which carry pictures of all those students who committed suicide after having failed in exams. Vishnu plays a school master who is blamed by the parents for not giving children homework and not rendering the atmosphere competitive enough to score well. But Vishnu has sworn not to contribute to another child committing suicide or add to the misery of children by burdening them with academic pressure,” Dinesh told Metrolife.
Vishnu’s character had come to understand the child's agony the hardway.
He loses his child in an abduction drama wherein the kidnappers seek release of a dreaded criminal for freeing the child. The police refuse to yield and the kidnappers kill the child.
“The loss of his child changes Vishnu forever. The pain and trauma of parents on losing their children in ransom stories gone wrong defies explanation. Reams and reams are written about the victim who has been kidnapped, the ransom and the government but nothing is ever mentioned about the ones who have lost their dear ones. We have sought to feel their pain in the movie,” observes Dinesh.
Etched on a calendar
With the launch of Jogaiah, Shivarajkumar’s 100th film and a sequel to Jogi, one will see actor/director Prem’s home production, Prem Pictures get underway.
Jogaiah will be officially launched on January 24. The photoshoots have been slated for March and the shooting will commence in April. “I am thrilled, excited and nervous at the same time because this is the first movie from my home production and Shivanna’s 100th film. I hope I can meet the expectations of people,” Prem said.
Prem and Rakshitha have been working overtime to chalk out the publicity strategies. The duo have got about 40 stars from Sandalwood and Tamil actor Rajnikant to scribble out their expectations about Jogaiah. The scribbles have been compiled in the form of a calender which will be launched on the same day.
Upendra, Ganesh, Vijay and Darshan, to mention a few, have aired their thoughts about the film. “We wanted the marketing and publicity to be perfect. We have also ordered 1,000 extra calenders to be printed and circulated,” says Prem. Prem has zeroed in on Priyanka Chopra for an item song in the film. “We wanted to rope in someone from outside but we are yet to get a conformation from Priyanka,” he signs off.
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Sharmila was shocked
The music launch of M Chandru’s Swayamvara saw many well-wishers come in, from Puneeth Rajkumar, Yograj Bhat to Ramya. But the star of the day was the music director Manikanth of the Savaari fame.
The female protagonist, Sharmila Mandre was actually shocked when she first saw Manikanth at the album launch.
“I had heard his music before and was glad he was scoring the music for this film. But I had never seen him and thought he was 40 or 50 years of age. But he is so young. I was both shocked and happy that such a young guy has done so well for himself,” says Sharmila.
The album is said to have five songs which ranges from a duet, a peppy club number to a traditional-cum-folk song. “The music is youthful and is already started climbing the chartbusters. Moreover, the songs are very situational and are not there for the sake of being there,” says Sharmila while adding, “even shooting for the songs was a great experience. We shot almost four songs in Bangkok where we visited a lot of beautiful locations and that’s where the entire team bonded.”
Megha Shenoy