After Kannada thespian and iconic figure late Dr Rajkumar, the Sahasasimha is among the few who have attained such a stature in Sandalwood. With 200 films and millions of fans, the late Dr Vishnuvardhan, fondly known as Sahasasimha, lives on amongst fans thanks to his iconic characters.
It is his debut role as a full time hero in the noted Kannada film and director Puttana Kanagal’s Nagarahavu (1972) which brought him his greatest success.
As Ramachari in Nagarahavu, Sandalwood witnessed a new breed of talent with an everlasting effect, despite the fact that he left his fans bereft in 2009 when he passed away. Now, in his 201st venture, the 2016 version of Nagarahavu sees the legend digitally recreated for several minutes.
Directed by Kodi Ramakrishna of Arundathi fame, this latest version of Nagarahavu, is a tribute to the Sahasasimha. In the fantasy genre, it marks the comeback of Sandalwood queen Ramya.
According to the producer of the film Sajid Qureshi, the team spared no cost in recreating Vishnuvardhan in a digital avatar.
“However, when we started the venture, there was no such idea of recreating the legend but as the script demanded an important godly character who descends from heaven to destroy evil, we approached several actors. That was when I accidentally saw a Bruce Lee film, and the idea struck me. I discussed it with Kodi Sir but he was not sure. I kept the idea alive, and after a great deal of research, I connected with Ahmed, an Iranian who assisted with the computer graphics,” he adds.
The recreated digital version of Vishnuvardhan appears in the climax for about 20 minutes — which most fans can cherish as their beloved Sahasasimha does the Tandava, with a few dialogues and action too. The film makers had almost scrapped the idea as they feared the image might not match expectations.
Even Mrs Bharathi Vishnuvardhan gave her consent, sensing the quality of the digital work, and its notable director. “Even the slightest difference would have resulted in a furious uproar by Vishnu Sir’s fans. The posters were launched with great response, and it took six months more to complete the CGI works. It is a first of its kind attempt in the Indian film industry and even internationally too, where a legend actor is recreated with utmost perfection. People talk about Baahubali but that is of a different genre. Recreating an actor onscreen is a big challenge,” explains Qureshi.
The VFX of the film was created by Peter Draper and his team of Makuta VFX, who took 32 months to create the nine minutes in the film showing Vishnuvardhan.
The director Kodi shares that it was indeed a challenge, and the team did it to near perfection. “It is not just animation, it is a complete recreation of the legendary actor. There was no room for error, hence it took such long time,” he said. The tri-lingual fantasy feast is simultaneously releasing in Kannada as Nagarahavu, in Telugu as Nagarabharanam and in Tamil as Shivalingam on October 14. Watch the legend himself in his 201st film to experience the magic.
