The Ram Charan one encountered during the media interaction on Wednesday, hours before he left to the US for the premiere of Dhruva , was unlike his usual articulate self. Was it the bad throat, work schedule or personal commitments following his aunt’s passing away, one wouldn’t know. The answers were mostly brief, interspersed with a smile.
He calls Dhruva a physically demanding film. A meticulous diet and fitness routine leading to six-pack abs is his way of giving a new dimension to the cop role. Dhruva is a remake of the Tamil film Thani Oruvan , which isn’t a conventional hero-centric story. In fact, it unfolds with the birth of the antagonist, Siddharth Abhimanyu (played by Arvind Swamy). Telugu cinema has its way of tailor-making stories to suit a hero’s image. Ram Charan says he and director Surendher Reddy sought to retain the essence of the original. “We made a few changes to suit Telugu audience, but that isn’t to say that we’ve reduced the villain’s role. He is as strong as he was in the original.”
Was he tempted to take on the negative role, which, in this film, has the potential to overshadow the hero? “Not at all. It is a tempting role, yes, but I’m happy playing a hero, a role model. I won’t do a role which children in my family cannot look up to,” he says.
Dhruva has a run time of 150 minutes, which would seem a tad long for an edge-of-the-seat drama. Ram Charan feels the content is strong enough to keep viewers glued to their seats. “The Tamil film was also long. Many scenes are interlinked, so we couldn’t cut anything down. For us the first task was to do justice to the content and, if possible, take it a step further,” he reasons.
The remake was pitched to him by producer and distributor N.V. Prasad, known to back films that would appeal to the masses. Charan agrees that the story was different from routine commercial films. “I knew I’d be doing something new and something correct. When a producer like Prasad, who knows people’s pulse, is ready to try something new, why not me?” he asks.
The director, producer and Charan couldn’t think of anyone else to reprise Arvind Swamy’s role. With a little prodding, Swamy agreed. “Initially I was tensed at the thought of working with someone who had done this role so well,” says Charan.
Point out that the industry is witnessing many remakes and it’s a similar case in his family as well — his father Chiranjeevi’s 150 film Khaidi No.150 is a remake of the Tamil film Kaththi and Pawan Kalyan’s Kaatamarayudu is from Ajith’s Tamil film Veeram — and Charan shrugs, “So what? The stories are good.”
Next, Charan will work in director Sukumar’s entertainer, which will go on floors after Sankranti, following the release of Khaidi No.150 .
