Director Chethan Kumar’s ambitious project received a big blow when Kannada cinema’s ‘Power Star’ Puneeth Rajkumar passed away in October last after suffering a cardiac arrest. “A hero is the face of the film. Puneeth sir’s death took an emotional toll on me,” said Chethan, talking at the event ‘Memories of a Hero’ here at the Orion Mall on Saturday.
The session was part of the ongoing 13th Bengaluru International Film Festival. Apart from Chethan, producer Soorappa Babu, acclaimed filmmaker P Sheshadri, veteran director S K Bhagavan, and filmmaker Pawan Wadeyar shared their memories and learning from Puneeth through their projects with the actor.
Chethan calls it a rare situation but he felt Puneeth guiding him till the completion of the film. "He was my driving force. Despite not being with me, I felt I had his backing,” he said. ‘James’, touted to be an action drama, is set to release worldwide on March 17. Puneeth is playing an Army man in the movie.
The director’s biggest challenge was the protagonist’s dubbing process. After several attempts to extract Puneeth’s voice fell apart, it was decided that veteran actor Shivarajkumar would give voice to his brother. “Initially, we tried to extract Puneeth’s sir’s voice from recordings from the shooting spots. But it wasn’t very clear. Even after filtering the data, his voice didn’t have the energy people expect from him,” explains Chethan, in interaction with DH.
“We tried to imitate his voice through specialists. We weren’t convinced because ultimately, the audience should feel the connection with the character,” he added. The team travelled to Mumbai to explore the option of voice modulation. It is a process of converting one’s vocal into another. But the frequency level didn’t perfectly match, reveals the director.
The team finally felt Shivarajkumar was the best option. “An actor acts again in the dubbing studio. We needed somebody who could match the craft of Puneeth sir. It required someone experienced. It’s a rare quality but Shivanna was the right person to pull it off. Giving voice to his younger brother was an emotional process for Shivarajkumar,” said Chethan, who earlier made hits such as ‘Bahaddur’ (2014) and ‘Bharjari’ (2017).
Puneeth was keen on a duet song. That wish remains unfulfilled but Chethan is satisfied that ‘James’ is released on Puneeth’s birth anniversary. “When he was with us, no film had been released on his birthday. Puneeth sir wanted at least one movie to hit the screens on March 17,” he said.
‘James’ was planned as a Kannada film but after witnessing the outpouring of love for the actor after his untimely demise, the film was made into a pan-India (five languages) release. It will be out in 72 centres in the USA, said Chethan.
Check out the latest videos from DH: