I spent time with taxi drivers to understand my character: Yuva Rajkumar

Actor Yuva Rajkumar tells Pranati A S about his second feature film, slated for a July 18 release

Actor Yuva Rajkumar, who made his debut with Santosh Anandram’s ‘Yuva’ last year, is back with his second film ‘Ekka’. Directed by Rohit Padaki of ‘Rathnan Prapancha’ (2021) fame, the film is set for release next week.

The song ‘Bangle bangari’ from the film has already topped the charts. ‘Ekka’ is one of the most anticipated films of the year.

Excerpts from an interview with the actor:

Tell me about your character in ‘Ekka’.

My character is called Muthu. He is naive and lives in a village. He doesn’t have too many desires. All he wants is to eat well and sleep well. Circumstances force him to move to Bengaluru, where he works as a cab driver. In the city, he experiences love, crime, action...

The film’s main theme is: In every human being there is a child and a demon. He was a child in his village, but the city brings out his dark side. What happens to Muthu in this conflict between the child and the demon within forms the crux of the story.

What was your experience playing the role?

I enjoyed working with Rohit (Padaki) sir. The character has so many variations. I will also appear in four-five avatars. As an actor I got to learn a lot — especially the extremes in emotions the role demanded. We also shot in live locations.

You said the character has a lot of variations and emotions, how did you prepare for the role?

After the script was finalised, the director explained my character over two to three weeks — what kind of a person he is, his innocence, how he is with his mother, how he speaks to his friends etc. I did workshops with Yashwant from Ninasam to learn village slang. I would travel by cabs as much as possible to understand the life of cab drivers —  how much do they earn everyday, what is their average day like, when do they eat, sleep…

I was able to get a good grasp on the character. So when the director explained each scene to me, I could immediately understand how the character would behave in the situation. He also gave me a lot of freedom to improvise. 

Favourite moments from the sets.

We had a lot of fun on the set. We shot the ‘Bangle bangari’ song at midnight. I think we wrapped up at 3 am. Even at that hour, the energy of the entire set never dropped.

Apart from that, working with Poornachandra Mysore was fulfilling. His character’s name is ‘Daddy’. Our chemistry in the film is quite spectacular. It was our first time working together and we became close friends.

The fight sequences are quite unique. There’s a sequence in the rain and one in a bar with loud music. So the entire sequence was shot along with the loud music. You must’ve seen this in the teaser — I come carrying a gun hidden inside a broom. It was a very new experience for me.

Do you like action or drama?

I like the drama in action.

Cinema is not new to you, but once you started working in the industry as an actor, once you started shouldering the responsibility of a film, how has that experience been?

Like you said, cinema is not new to me. As a child, going to shooting spots was like going to a playground for me. I would chill and play there. And even now, it’s the same. But the challenge now is grabbing the audience’s attention. That’s the most difficult task. There’s so much content everywhere, on OTT, on social media — judging what they like is the biggest challenge.

Going forward, what kind of roles do you want to explore?

I want to do different kinds of characters, in terms of the look, variations in the script and behavioural styles. That way, ‘Ekka’ is very different from my first film. I’m working with (Duniya) Soori sir next. My character there is again different from ‘Ekka’s’ Muthu.

I want to also do mythological films. I’m very fascinated by them. I believe cinema is a good medium to preserve our culture and history.