After making ‘The Villain’, in which actors Shivarajkumar and Sudeep shared the screen for the first time, director, producer and actor Prem is busy giving final touches to his latest project, ‘Ek love ya.’ The teaser was launched on Friday.
Calling his film a romantic thriller, Prema says the story is written to cater to the sensibilities of today’s generation. “The story is inspired by a real-life couple who went through very tough phases before they could finally get married and settle down. They were based in Bengaluru when the incidents took place. They have now relocated overseas for good,” Prem tells Metrolife.
He adds that he spent a lot of time with the couple to gather facts and figures. “The incidents are factually true but we have added some fictional elements to give a different feel and flavour to the film. I am sure many couples in the city will be able to connect to what is narrated in the film,” observes Prem.
Whether in ‘Jogi, ‘Excuse Me’ or even ‘The Villain’, Prem is always credited with identifying and launching new talents. This, he believes, will encourage more youngsters to evince an interest in filmmaking. The film has Rakshitha’s brother Rana, Reshma Nannaiah and Rachitha Ram. “Rana and Reshma were trained for a couple of months before they were ready to start shooting. New faces bring in a lot of originality to the film and add a sense of freshness to the script. It takes longer to work with newcomers but the effort is worth it,” shares Prem.
A software engineer-turned- actor, Rana worked as assistant director to Prem in ‘The Villain’ for one and a half years before he was launched as an actor. “He picked up the basics of acting and direction on the sets of ‘The Villain.’ Sudeep also gave him a few tips on acting and shared with him a few camera tricks. He understood what it was like to work under harsh conditions and the hard work involved in making a film,” says Prem.
It took a year to complete work on all the eight songs. “Four songs have been written by me and I’ve got new lyricists to write the other four. While three songs have been recorded in India, the rest have been recorded with the Symphony Orchestra in Europe. We’ve spent an exorbitant amount on just the music because we wanted to have music that was of world-class quality. We have to shoot three more songs in Rajasthan, Gujrat and one in Greece,” says Prem.
The one-minute teaser of the film that was launched on Friday was mixed in Europe at an estimated cost of Rs four lakh. ‘Ek love ya’ will release in May this year.