I love the depth and detailing that goes into making a period film: Dhananjaya
Dhananjaya is gearing up for yet another period film, this time to portray Kempe Gowda – the erstwhile governor of the Vijayanagara empire. Following his earlier film Allama, in which he played Allama Prabhu, he is poised to begin shooting for Halagali - a film that captures the first uprising against the British that took place in a small village named Halagali in Bagalkot, Karnataka. The latest one, Nadaprabhu Kempegowda, will continue the actor’s efforts to present the complexities of historical characters on screen. Excerpts:
‘Kempe Gowda built our history and continues to do so’
Talking about playing a character that every Bengalurean, or even every visitor to Bengaluru would have surely heard of – Kempegowda, Dhanajaya says, “With the international airport and even the major bus stands named after him, there may not be many people here who have not heard of him. In that way, he is one of our most well-known and popular names that built our history and continues to do so, too. Director TS Nagabharana has been working on this historical piece for a while now, this is his dream project. I have learnt so much about Kempe Gowda through my meetings with the director; I now know that he is more than just a visionary who built and developed Bengaluru, He is also this heroic personality, a warrior who even trained soldiers himself,” reveals Dhananjaya of the film that was announced just days ahead of Kempegowda’s 515th birth anniversary to be celebrated on June 27.
With Uttarakhanda and Anna from Mexico also in the pipeline, the actor has a busy year ahead. “Period films like these require a huge amount of research and preparation. I love the depth and detailing that goes into bringing them to life. Work on them is already underway by the production teams. While we will begin shooting for Halagali this year, Nadaprabhu Kempegowda will probably go on floors early next year. So it’s going to be about seven to eight months more of pre-production work from now on. I need to prepare for these roles - the look of both the protagonists is going to be different and playing them on screen is going to be a rather herculean task, and I am excited to be taking them up.”