Nagesh Naradasi after dabbling with a semi-mythological and a light bantered entertainer has come up with a suspense thriller with reverse screenplay, popularised by the master of suspense thrillers – Alfred Hitchcock. Titled Killer , the murder mystery produced by Kiran under Sri Srinivasa Creations banner is nearing completion. The former Miss India World Gadde Sindhura plays the protagonist.
It is also after a while a Telugu film was shot at the sprawling V.G.P Golden Beach in Chennai. Sindhura was not at the location as the scene being shot was a comic one that involved Ponnambalam and Sharmi an up-and-coming actress. Madhu A. Naidu (popular for his works for films made by Y.V.S. Chowdhary) cranked the camera. A day prior to that, the director said that the unit filmed a song on newcomer Risha (played lead role in the offbeat Tamil film, Renigunta ) and 30 dancers choreographed by Pradeep Anthony. The brawny Ponnambalam has proved his worth as a comedy-villain in many films and he was at ease in front of the camera. His antics seemed to have worked on the unit members who were in splits making the actors re-enact that particular block in that scene a couple of times more before the director okayed it.
Since most parts of the story takes place in a forest area, Nagesh Naradasi shot for over 25 days in the Talakona forests, near Tirupati before moving to Chennai. He says the film is based on a real incident that happened 20 years ago in Mumbai. He worked a story around that incident by adding more characters and of course the necessary twists and turns needed for a suspense thriller. Gadde Sindhura plays an investigating officer who is on a mission to find the culprits behind a series of murders taking place in the forest and in the surrounding villages. “Two gangs from Mumbai and Coimbatore operate in that area to smuggle the precious stones or ‘rangu rallu' as we call them,” says Naradasi. “There is a research group comprising of 30-40 members besides the villagers, the tantriks and others from the area. Every one is a suspect. An interesting part of the narrative is that the characters do not know that Sindhura is a cop, nor do the other guys know about each others motives. But the audience come to know about the characters from the start, retaining the suspense part of who the villain is among the lot. A reverse screenplay,” he smiles and continues, “At the same time it is a full length entertainer with aheavy interval bang that builds momentum for the second half.”
After the comic scene, Naradasi says that a solo song on the heroine remains to be filmed. “We plan to shoot it at a set in Hyderabad. It is a bilingual and the Tamil version is titled – Digil (fear)” he said.
The lead stars include Thanikella Bharani, Nizhalgal Ravi, Shafi, Prithvi and Ravi Praksash. Sai Kartik composed the music. The film is slated for a March release.
