Predominantly known for the 2006 film 'Mungaru Male', which recorded the highest box-office collections in the history of Kannada cinema and currently holds the record for the longest running film at a multiplex, Director Yograj Bhat is always bubbling with enthusiasm and creative ideas.
His last venture was 'Paramathma' and he is currently set for 'Drama', which is a romantic comedy with Yash, Radhika Pandit, Atul Kulkarni, Neenasam Satish and Sindhu Loknath. City Express spoke to this ace director about his upcoming flick.
'Drama' was a spontaneous concept...
The film was made keeping today’s youngsters in mind. There is a saying in Kannada, Mele suthradari navu ella pathradari (there is someone up there and we are just characters here). Life is a never ending drama. It goes on and my film is based on this aspect. Drama was conceived to showcase the socioeconomical, educational, political, emotional and sexual issues of youth.
The idea behind making 'Drama'...
A small incident was in my mind for quite sometime which was starting to take shape. I started working with my old friend, Ravi Kiran on the idea. The content is mine, the screenplay is his. For us, Drama is one of my brilliant arts. I hope even people will have the same opinion.
Youth and Yograj Bhat...
From the youth point of view, if I consider myself as an youngster, we go out thinking that we know everything; we see a lot of incompletion, be in education, job or relationships. There is a lot of discontinuation with multiple factors. Then comes a time where we become helpless. Those experiences will teach us the art of completion. During such time, there will be head on collision with elders. It is always easy to tell but there is something emotional about the whole thing and that is what the film talks about.
The reality and fiction part of 'Drama'...
Drama is a kind of satirical narration with lot of humour and sarcasm. There are more than thirty main characters in the film. Somewhere you see reality which is been presented in a candid way. Fiction is not exactly shown the way it should be and this film is a new form of presentation from me.
Tremendous fun while we shot 'Drama'...
We shot in more than 80 locations and it was a laborious and tedious attempt, which I have never tried before. We have touched so many locations and it was all possible because of the team’s enthusiasm. Today we are all back in one piece and that is because of the humour and fun of working together. Shot under lot of weather fluctuations, hunting for the most beautiful locations, I never felt tired working with a young team.
Pressure of a Yograj Bhat film doing well...
It is part of my career or for that matter, anybody’s career. It is like delivering a child, each time you try something new. Pressure is a root cause to do something good. If one enjoys pressure in a constructive manner, then everything else will ease out.
People will not believe 'Drama' is my cinema...
Drama is different because of the dialect background and characterisation. It is zara hatke from my previous films. I am sure that people will not realise that it is my film. It is a U-turn with lot of curves. There is a lot to emote as I have tried to make people laugh with maximum characters in the film.
Casting for 'Drama'...
We had initially chosen north Indians and had even confirmed Shyloo heroine Bhama. But I realised that my heroine required a flirtatious Kannada girl with good hold on the local language. So I had to change to Radhika Pandit. Plus point was also that both Yash and Satish come from Mandya. As for Sindhu, her expressions were perfect as she is playing a dumb character.
Yograj Bhat shows Karnataka very beautifully...
What we call as Deccan Plateau is one of the most beautiful places in South India. Andhra Pradesh is like an island and Tamil Nadu is average. The best picturisation which can be very aesthetically brought out is in Karnataka and Kerala.
Music being special in Yograj Bhat films...
Music of Drama will become a milestone as there is lot of acronyms and contradictions in the lyrics. I consider this to be Hari Krishna’s special album. Hats off to him for scoring such brilliant music. As a listener, I am curious for the audio release.
Yash and Neenasam Satish are from theatre background...
Watching both of them together onscreen is fun in itself. Yash is in the hero range while Satish is a newcomer but cinema is much bigger than all of us. We have all started from scratch and commercial success is because of people. Every cinema is an attempt.
Yograj accepts failure...
My career started with a big failure as my first two films tanked miserably at the box office. But only after that, I could see a success ratio. My failure is always there in my mind. But Drama will not be the same. It has gone beyond our imagination. Just as the audience, even I am looking forward to know what will happen in theatres.
Experimentation needs money...
The population, the nativity and budget constrains are the major factors that we have to consider. We have to play around with what we have. I would love to experiment with different genres but we don’t have that kind of investment nor time. If I have money and time, I will love to experiment.
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