‘I play the role of Narada in ‘Old Monk'

Actor-director MG Srinivas's latest offering starts off from 'Devaloka'

Actor-director MG Srinivas has always had a fresh approach to scripts and projects. His upcoming film, ‘Old Monk’, brings back to the screen many screen favourites and will be a family entertainer.

In a candid chat with Metrolife, he reveals more.

What inspired 'Old Monk'?

After ‘‘Birbal Trilogy Case 1: Finding Vajramuni’, I had a lot of scripts to direct. When I sat back and thought, I realised that ‘Srinivasa Kalyana’ was for the youth and ‘Birbal...’ was a thriller. I wanted to try a different genre and work on a family entertainer.

The film was written by Santhosh Nandakumar, Prasana VM and me, all three of us sat together to shape ‘Old Monk’.

How far has the movie progressed?

Apart from a song, shooting for most of the film is done. The film is in the editing stage now. Due to capping of theatre occupancy, we aren’t sure about how many releases will be delayed. For now, we are planning for a June release.

Who all are part of the project?

A lot of actors are making a comeback into the industry with ‘Old Monk’, especially artistes like director S Narayan, Sihi Kahi Chandru, and actor Rajesh (father-in-law of actor Arjun Sarja). Senior artistes like Bangalore Nagesh, R T Rama, and Dingri Nagaraj, who we grew up seeing on screen, are a part of ‘Old Monk’. We needed people who have good comic timing and were known to people, they were perfect for it. Actor Sunil Raoh will be playing a special role. Sudev Nair is making his debut in Kannada films, he plays the antagonist. Aditi Prabhudeva and I are also in the cast.

Tell us a bit about the film and your role. What genre does it belong to?

The film starts in ‘Devaloka’, where Lord Krishna is seen fighting with his wife Rukmini. Narada, who is known to create tiffs, is seen in the scene doing what he is known for. Rukmini and Krishna break up, and a curse is put on Narada. I play the role of Narada and Sunil Raoh plays Krishna.

Despite obstacles faced due to the pandemic, how did the project move ahead?

We started the film in March 2020. We had just finished the first schedule and were going to start the second one when lockdown happened. We improvised the script during the break. After Unlock happened, shooting resumed with a lot of precautions. I even went to some ad shoots to know how to be extra careful, especially since we had some senior artistes on the sets.

You used some gimmicks to create hype for the film…

It was to bring smiles to the audience’s face. Our posts like ‘First Look poster will not be launched by SRK’, or ‘First Kannada film to release in 14 languages. *Subtitles only’, was to set the mood for the film and how it would be a laugh riot.

The film’s first look was launched by different actors across industries.

The film will be made in two languages — Kannada and Telugu. The main intention was to reach out to the masses. Rakshit Shetty, Nivin Pauly, and Satyadev Kancharana have a huge fan following. They are not connected to the film, but they all believe in good content and promoting it.

What are the upcoming projects?

I have three projects in line — a horror-comedy, an action thriller, and ‘Birbal part 2’, which will be directed by me. I’ve never acted in a horror-comedy or an action thriller and I’m sure it will be challenging.