'Vikrant Rona is a dream come true project with Sudeep,' says director Anup Bhandari

This is the Kannada director’s third film but it is set to be one of the biggest not just for him but for Kannada superstar Sudeep as well. Director Anup Bhandari who shot to fame with Rangi Tiranga and Rajaratha was all set to work with Sudeep on ‘Billa Ranga Pasha’ when things took a turn and Vikrant Rona , a 3D fantasy thriller, emerged. As the movie gets ready for release, Anup is busy working on last-minute post-production and shuttling between cities across India promoting the film with the cast. In between his busy schedule, the director caught up with Firstpost to talk about Vikrant Rona. Did you imagine that Vikrant Rona, which you envisioned on a Rs 15 crore budget, would turn out to be as big as it has become? When I got stuck while writing Billa Ranga Pasha, I already had Vikrant Rona in hand. I wasn’t sure if Sudeep would like the film because it’s nothing like what he has done earlier. I narrated the story to his manager Manju and Sudeep’s wife, Priya, and they loved it. When Sudeep heard the story and it was greenlit, it took off from there. What I had conceptualised remains the same but how it was executed and scale increased. For instance, if I would have had to shoot in a real forest somewhere, now we could recreate a forest on set to scale to the movie’s requirements and shoot. Initially, the movie was not supposed to be 3D but when I was asked whether this movie could be made in 3D, I said that if any movie had to be made in 3D it would have to be Vikrant Rona. The only aspect I was concerned about is the quality of 3D – it had to be done really well and the teams we have worked with have done a great job. It’s a dream come true for any director when the producer says that the budget will be increased to make a bigger film than what you had envisioned.

As a director did you find any challenges while shooting this film on set? Yes! Recreating the forest was a big challenge in itself. We have seen forests that look unreal and so we first did all the things that we shouldn’t do and then worked on how to make it look real. Art director Shivakumar was a big asset to this film – for instance, he created a mould of a real tree and then made a tree out of that to make it look realistic. The other big challenge here was lighting. Sunlight coming through in a forest is different and given that it was all indoors, the forest had to have even lighting; we had to work on the lighting extensively to get it right. Your brother, Nirup Bhadanari, is also acting in this film and he has been part of all your films. Is that a conscious decision or does it happen organically? It’s been like that since childhood! (Smiles) He and I always hang out together and except when we were in school where we had different sets of friends, we are always together. We talk about nothing but cricket and movies. Nirup is my sounding board – he is the first one to hear all my stories and he gives me feedback which I find valuable. He was the first one who heard the story of Vikrant Rona as well and he is always part of my films in some way, even if not as an actor. Today, south films like ‘RRR’, ‘KGF 2’, ‘Pushpa’ and ‘Charlie 777’ have all done well at the box office across India. Are you nervous that ‘Vikrant Rona’ would be compared to them? No, I’m not nervous but I am eagerly waiting to see the audience’s reaction. The movie has come out well and I am happy with it. Now I’m just waiting to see audience reactions. Again, directors like Rajamouli, Prashanth Neel, Atlee and Lokesh Kanagaraj, are all being hailed for their work. Is this movie going to put you in that league of highly-talked about directors? I’m already getting a lot of calls from people in various film industries, who have seen the teaser and heard about the film, who want to work with me. It’s a nice feeling when your work is recognised and appreciated. Was there anything you learnt while working with Sudeep? One thing I learnt was that you need to give him a reason when you need something from him and he needs to be convinced of it. Before we went on set for the first schedule, I created an animated storyboard of all the shots we were going to take and showed it to him so he gets an idea of what we were going to do. If you see the film now, we have stuck to 99% of it. I think this builds trust between the actor and director and makes the working relationship more comfortable. They also get to know what I have in mind and how it is going to be executed and are more confident. Maybe I’ll release these as BTS, once Vikrant Rona releases. (Smiles) Jacqueline Fernandez was roped in Rakamma for this film… A few names were tossed about but when I heard Jacqueline’s name, I knew she’d be perfect for this role. This character was a blend of Indian and Western and she was apt. She liked the story and when she said yes, we arranged a Kannada diction coach for her in Mumbai so that she would be prepared with the dialogues when she came on set. During the rehearsal, she did the entire long shot (with the Kannada dialogues) with Sudeep in one take! She is a really nice person and knowing that I love chocolates, she would bring me chocolates every day. (Laughs) In fact, I told her she was too nice. You’ve invested a long time in this film, isn’t it? Once the film releases, are you off on holiday? Yes, I have spent four years on this film – a year writing and then pre-production. We started to shoot, then Covid happened and now a year in post-production. I haven’t even taken a sick day! I’m sure my wife and daughter would want a holiday post-release and I think even if I am on holiday, I’d be writing. (Smiles) Latha Srinivasan is a senior journalist based in Chennai. Her passion is entertainment, travel, and dogs. Read all the  Latest News ,  Trending News ,  Cricket News ,  Bollywood News ,  India News  and  Entertainment News  here. Follow us on  Facebook ,  Twitter  and  Instagram .