Shivarajkumar in Bhairathi Ranagal
In 2017, when Shivarajkumar’s ‘Mufti’ hit the screen, the audience was taken by surprise at its narrative and the actor’s never-seen-before avatar. Action films are a familiar territory for this actor, yet his character’s depth and complexity captivated viewers. Sporting a black shirt and panche, he was a saviour of the poor and weak, and a villain to the lawmakers.
A prequel to the film, ‘Bhairathi Ranagal’, is set to release next week. “Ranagal’s character was adored by the audience. That’s when I decided to elaborate the character and create a backstory. We registered the title then itself,” recounts Narthan, the film’s director.
‘Bhairathi Ranagal’ will entail the events that led to how Shivarajkumar’s character, who is a lawyer, becomes a gangster. Narthan reveals that the prequel will also have a surprise at the interval like ‘Mufti’.
“Watching Shivanna in films like ‘Jogi’ and ‘Om’, which features raw dialogues and rowdyism, inspired me to create a similar character arc but with a subtle approach. This is why we made him wear a panche. We made him wear a full black costume to suit his dark character,” says Narthan.
About working with Shivarajkumar, Narthan adds, “He has been a director’s artiste. He doesn’t hold pride or ego about being a part of over a hundred films. That’s what makes working with him wholesome. It inspires us to do more.”
Action scenes with Shivanna
The film has two action sequences — a short shoot-out sequence and a climax sequence. Chethan D’Souza, the action director of the film, says that climax involves gunfights, ‘one vs many’ fights, and a confrontation scene between Shivanna and Rahul Bose, who plays the antagonist. “Irrespective of the dust, smoke and fire, Shivanna was dedicated and wanted to do all the stunts himself. He is a ball of energy. Even Rahul Bose is very athletic. They were quite a combination,” he adds.
Bringing attention to Bose’s performance, Narthan says “he is a subtle actor”, and vouches that the Kannada audiences will be impressed.
Shivanna is known for using the billhook machete (longu in Kannada) but the makers have designed a newer version of the weapon for the film. “We have also redefined the entire fight style with the weapon,” he adds.
D’Souza notes that Shivarajkumar “knows where the camera is and how to present himself favouring the camera”. “This comes from a lot of experience. He makes everything smooth and easy for the technicians.”
Since Shivarajkumar has done a lot of action in films in the past, D'Souza says coming up with “fresh and cool” action sequences for him is always a challenge. They have worked on three other projects earlier.