11 June 2024
Hyderabad

Known to complete films at a breakneck speed without compromising on his vision and quality, filmmaker Harish Shankar has achieved something similar with his next, Mr. Bachchan- Naam Tho Suna Hoga, starring Mass Maharaja Ravi Teja. With the film having gone to floors towards the end of last year, he has completed 90 percent of the shoot so far. “We have three songs remaining to be filmed. Of the three, one will be shot inside a set (in Hyderabad) while the other two will be shot outside. In fact, I’m planning to shoot one song in unexplored locations of Kashmir,” the writer-director tells us in an exclusive conversation.

Mr. Bachchan is a remake of Hindi box office smash Raid (2018), top-lined by Ajay Devgn. No stranger to remakes, Harish gave his own spin to the remake. “I’ve rewritten it in a way that the original makers will be compelled to buy the remake rights of Mr. Bachchan,” he asserts, promising that the characters of Ravi Teja and Jagapathi Babu will be the major highlights of the film.

In Raid, Devgn played a tax officer who leads a raid on the mansion of the most powerful figure in Lucknow, a member of parliament (played by Saurabh Shukla) who has been evading income tax for years. The part required him to cut a stern figure throughout the narrative. Will we get to see Ravi Teja in a similar avatar? Harish replies, “Without losing the authenticity of the original story, I penned Ravi Teja character in a way that all the missing elements of his previous films will be in droves in this film. It will be a feast for his fans.”

There was a certain intensity associated with Raid and in Mr. Bachchan, Harish points out it will be 10 times more than that of the original.

Harish is introducing newbie Bhagyashri Borse through the film. He cast her after going through her Instagram profile. He is mighty impressed with what she brought to the table as an actress. “She is an amazing actress and will be a star. She is one of those girls who is glamorous and at the same time a performer. She has a long way to go,” he raves.

Harish is collaborating with Ravi Teja after more than 12 years with Mr. Bachchan. They’ve earlier teamed up for Mirapakay; before that they’ve made Shock, which marked Harish’s debut as a director. He knows Ravi in and out and so does Ravi about him. So, how was it working together after this long? Harish explains, “I didn’t even feel the gap. When I was taking the first shot on day one, it was like starting from where we left off. The comfort he gives, the kind of faith and belief he has in me… this is the fastest film in my career. I’ve wrapped it up in four months. It was hectic. We’ve been to two outdoors – Karaikudi and Lucknow. It is not easy to shoot 30 days at a stretch without breaks but we did that for this film. We didn’t feel the need to take a break. We could do it because of Ravi Teja’s aura and energy.”

Also featuring Gautami Tadimalla, Sachin Khedekar, Prabhas Sreenu, Satya and Chammak Chandra, Mr. Bachchan’s promotions are yet to kick off. “We haven’t sorted out the real-time marketing plan yet because we’ve been continuously shooting. Once we finish the songs, we will take a call about the release date and then initiate the promotional plan,” he concludes, signing off.

-NAGARAJ GOUD