What's in a name when you have a strong content, seems to be the reason behind director Praveen Sattaru (of LBW fame) naming his current venture as Routine Love Story. He is shooting at Vardhaman College of Engineering in Shamshabad close to the Bangalore Highway. As you travel through the sprawling green campus, it isn't difficult to identify the shooting location with the film crew parked in one of those three storied buildings housing the classrooms.
On the verandah of the first floor, a few youngsters chase Sandeep to force him to say that he loves Regina, his classmate. To escape from them, Sandeep jumps from the first floor. After filming this ‘jump act' by Sandeep, cinematographer Suresh Bhargav trains his camera towards the boys who chase him. The worried boys take the staircase to see whether he is injured. The director orders ‘cut.'
“They are all first year students. Sandeep likes Regina but is hesitant to express his love and his friends goad him to tell her. To escape from them he jumps down. In the next scene they will find him in the canteen,” smiles Praveen Sattaru revealing the sequence from his forthcoming movie that he terms as ‘hilarious entertainer.'
Praveen adds, “Eighty per cent comedy and 20 per cent emotions, but the proportions are well balanced. There will be lot of quirky humour, lot of satire.
Even the climax is hilarious and nowhere have we compromised on the sensibilities and sensitivities. As for the genre, it is another love story. There is one character, a student of the college, whose ambition is to become a filmmaker. Snigdha plays the role. The title can be justified from this dialogue. She tells a producer, “Kotha heroni introduce chesthe kotha love story kaavali, kotha heroine ni introduce chesina kotha love story kaavali, kotha director ayina kotha love story… Yenni love stories rastham routine kaaka.” The wannabe filmmaker vents her frustration in a humorous way; there are many more such satirical digs.”
The location shifts to the canteen. The friends are relieved to find the hero there. When they chide him, Sandeep breaks into a 90-second monologue without a cut or retake. “We held a two week workshop for all these young actors before commencing the shoot and this helped and I am not stressed out,” guffaws Praveen.
The unit shot for 12 days in the campus. Producers Chanakya Booneti and P. Manikumar planned the next schedule from December 9 at a forest location.
“The story has a forest and a mountaineering backdrop too. So in the third schedule we plan to shoot the mountain climbing scenes if weather permits in Ladakh or settle for Coorg.” Praveen plans to shoot the four songs in montages. “They are part of the story and do not hinder the narrative. They are not like say the lead characters breaking into a song on the sly in an imaginative romanticism.”
He says it will be a visual treat. “For LBW Suresh used the Red One camera. This time we are using the advanced Red Scarlet X camera that gives a much better visual clarity.” Chandra Mohan, Kavitha, M.S. Narayana, Krishnudu, Jayaprakash Reddy, Hema, Surekhavani, Jhansi, Master Bharath and Swapnak are in the cast. The movie is slated for release in February.
ROUTINE LOVE STORY
Cast : Sandeep, Regina, Snigdha
Director : Praveen Sattaru
Music : Mickey J Meyer
Banner : A Working Dream Production and Benchmark Movies
