PC Shekar’s next will star Prajwal Devaraj as cab driver

Director P C Shekar has been waiting to get behind the camera after Ragini Dwivedi-starrer ‘The Terrorist’ released, but was waiting for the right story. With film shootings resuming, the filmmaker is prepping for his next, which will have Prajwal Devaraj playing the central character.

He says, “Everyone is getting used to the pandemic and I thought that I should also start my next project. We are planning to start rolling by December end or January. It will be a one-schedule film of 45 days.”

Shekar has worked with Prajwal earlier in ‘Arjuna’ and is excited about their second collaboration.

“Prajwal is a director’s actor. Once he likes the script, he doesn’t intervene or do anything apart from what the director instructs him to. He puts his heart and soul into a role, which is really comforting for a director,” he says.

He says that Prajwal is “a versatile actor”, and can act as a boy-next-door, a rich and suave character or an action hero, according to what the script demands.

“He can be moulded to any character. We are working on his looks and he’ll have a very fresh avatar in this project,” he says.

Prajwal will play a cab driver in the film. “It will be the central character and all the other characters’ stories will revolve around him,” adds Shekar.

The film will happen in a real-time format, and will capture the story in four hours. “It will be shot in candid format. The screenplay will follow a non-linear structure and will have six characters in it,” he says.

An acton thriller, the project will be fast-paced. Shekar likes working on different genres every time.

“I had the gist of the story with me for a couple of years, but I developed the script during the lockdown,” he says.

To abide by protocols and stick to safety measures, Shekar will be doing a lot more outdoor shots.

“More lighting is required for indoor shoots, which results in a lot of technicians on the sets. We will be shooting at live locations, its when we create scenes that more people come into the picture. For example, if we are shooting in Kalasipalayam, not too many junior artistes will be required, just some in the foreground will be enough,” he says.

According to Shekar, films are going through a transformation with different platforms to showcase them now.

“OTT is almost equal to a theatre now. But, when a film is designed for the theatre it is planned in a large scale and should sound and visually look big.”

“On OTT platforms, it is just like home entertainment, where an idea should work for the entire family. People are looking to watch new and strange concepts, the same old love stories doesn’t work there,” he adds.

The ideology of designing for the OTT doesn’t work like it is for the theatre. “My film will be in between; it will neither be entirely off-beat
nor commercial, it will be right in the middle,” he
says.

The film will be produced by Alankar Pandian, who produced ‘The Terrorist’.

“He is very passionate about films. He was sure that ‘The Terrorist’ will get the attention it deserves and would be reproduced in other languages too. Now the rights of the film have been sold to Bollywood and Sonam Kapoor will be working in it,” he says.

Arjun Janya will also be part of the project. “This will be our eighth film together,” Shekar signs off.