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A definite vision

Gandhinagar Grapevine
Last Updated 22 January 2016, 18:43 IST

When Sunil Kumar Desai set out to be a director, he was pretty clear that he didn’t want to make run-of-the-mill films. He knew the very ordinary things would appear different, only when viewed from a different perspective.

And true to his belief, Sunil forayed into the Kannada film industry with ‘Tarka’ which had actors Shankar Nag and Devaraj in the lead roles. ‘Tarka’ was one of the earliest psychoanalytical thrillers in Sandalwood. He followed it up with a slew of hits such as ‘Nishkarsha’, ‘Beladingala Baale’ and ‘Nammoora Mandara Hoove’ to name a few.

One common element in all  of Sunil’s films is that he makes a concerted effort to mix art and cinema, and spice it up with commercial ingredients. His latest venture, ‘Re’, promises to be an entertaining fare, given that everything from the title to the content seems to be different.

Sunil says ‘Re’ has a huge cast but every actor in the movie has a definite role and a purpose to be in the frame. “I know exactly why I have chosen a particular actor to play a particular role. For instance, Anant Nag plays Narayan Rao in the movie and he has moulded himself very well into the character. It is the sharpness and the precise effect that he brings out about the role that is impressive,” says Sunil.  Likewise, every character has a neat role and the movie is touted to be a thorough entertainer when all these characters come together. “We’ve tried to play around with the word ‘Re’ which means ‘if’, and also added a lot of comedy,” he says.

One didn’t see Sunil work on too many films after his last project, ‘Kshana Kshana’. Why? Sunil explains, “I had written a couple of scripts but somehow I couldn’t get down to working on any of them. I don’t believe in working just to be visible in the market, I want to do meaningful work. I took my time and now, I am glad to be working on a subject like ‘Re’,” he says. 

There are many strong preferences that Sunil holds about using certain elements such as an item song, for instance, in films just to gain that extra edge in the market. “There’s a misconception among filmmakers that the inclusion of item songs and increasing the fight scenes will get more visibility for the project. I would say that this formula hasn’t worked well for a lot of films and the same projects would have done well if they were made in a normal format,” he observes.

Sunil has already prepared the script for his next project which he says is in contrast to his previous projects.

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(Published 22 January 2016, 17:03 IST)

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