Karthi’s high on romance, friendship and positivity

Even though it was close to midnight, a cordoned off bridge on the outskirts of Chennai was buzzing with activity. A car was lying upturned in the middle of the bridge, and veiled robbers, armed with weapons, were hovering around. The ‘accident’ scene on the highway had drawn the attention of curious public on the other side of the road, who were making enquires in hushed voices. But their confusion was cleared as soon as they spotted Karthi, aka Dev, taking on the ‘villains’. We were at the shooting spot of the actor’s next film, and despite the late hours, the energy on the set was infectious.

“This film is based on what happens in a youngster’s life. There’s adventure, action, romance, friendship… and more than anything, there’s a lot of positivity. It’s basically about Dev’s journey. While Karthi plays the title character, Rakul Preet Singh plays Meghna, a self-made woman who runs her own company. He is a positive person and she is an idealistic girl,” begins director Rajath Ravishankar.

The film has been shot in various places, including Chennai, Hyderabad, Bengaluru, Manali, Gulmarg and Ukraine. “We shot at the Capathian Mountain, and travelled 1,500km inside Ukraine. I don’t think anyone has done that,” he notes.

On a quirkier note, Karthi states, “The story is taking us to too many places. Adhan naan sanda potten; oru oorukku ponoma, padatha mudichoma-nu illa, ooru oora poikittu irukkom! But it’s a nice, adventurous film and it will be visually exciting for the audience.”
So, how long did it take for him to become Dev? “45 days,” the actor says, “I’d gained weight for Kadaikutty Singam, and I had to lose all those kilos for this one.” Talking about his equation with Rakul, he says, “She is always busy and thinking about her next film’s shooting (laughs). She is very punctual and is always ready for that challenge. Our roles are very different from what we’d done in

Theeran Adhigaram Ondru

, and it’s a huge change for both of us.”

Before beginning the next shot, Rajath tells us, “Karthi is a delight to work with. He understands the story, and since he has been an assistant director himself, he knows what it takes to make the story work on screen. He does his homework before coming to the set. There was this cliff-jumping sequence we shot in Ukraine, and as part of it, he had to surface from under water. The place was grand, but the water was not that healthy. Any actor would have thought twice before diving into the water, but Karthi readily did it. We took 15 takes, but he didn’t refuse because he knew the importance of the sequence. Though we have stuntmen for back-up, he did his own stunt; every single one.”

We’ve worked to ensure that each stunt gets the audience on the edge of their seats. This particular sequence comes at the end of a romantic track, and that’s quite thrilling for everyone. We’ve worked with Karthi before in Madras and then in Kaashmora. He is just growing younger by the day. He is so energetic on the set
— Anbarivu (Anbu and Arivu), stunt choreographers

We’ve shot at many rich locations — both in the country and abroad —and it will be a challenging film for me, photography wise. I’ve tried a lot of different shots for the film because the locations allowed me to. The sequences in Gulmarg are very special for me. The film is both romantic and adventurous, and I think it’s after a long time that there’s a movie that fills that gap in this industry
— Velraj, cinematographer

We’ve got the best of cast and crew on board — Karthi, Rakul, Prakash Raj, Karthik, Ramya krishnan, Amrutha, Nikki Galrani…. Harris
Jayaraj is working with Karthi for the first time, Rajeevan is doing the art and Ruben is handling the editing. We took a lot of time for pre-production to tighten the nuts and bolts, and I think that helped us a lot. I’m happy that we’ve shot without wastage despite some challenging conditions. Like, when we did recce in Ukraine, it was snowing, but we shot there in full bloom. So, we had to completely anticipate what the location would be like. The film will be visually appealing
— Lakshman, producer