He made his debut as a director with Tarka which stars one of India’s most versatile filmmaker and actor Shankar Nag. Back then, it was an unusual suspense thriller which had no fights or songs. A maverick in the true sense, his films are known for unusual elements. Director Sunil Kumar Desai is back in action with another thriller - Udgarsha which is hitting the screens in all South Indian languages this Friday. It was he who directed Kichcha Sudeepa in Sparsha, which brought the actor into limelight. Desai and his hero Thakur Anoop Singh, a trained pilot, model and actor, speak about their exciting journey, the film Udgrasha and more.
“After my previous venture .Re, I worked on the script for Udgarsha for more than a year and then started searching for new and unique faces for it. I had planned to do it in five languages including Hindi and hence I did cast relatively unknown talents as the script demanded. We have talented actors from every region where the film is being released. I have shot the film in Kannada and in Telugu, whereas it is dubbed in Tamil and Malayalam. The Hindi version will be released later,” says Sunil Kumar Desai.
Talking about his early days, the director shares that after films like Tarka, Utkarsha, Sangarsha and Nishkarsha, he was questioned on whether he could handle a pure romantic subject. “That is when I did Beladingala Baale starring the supremely talented actor Anantnag. The film had no ‘visible’ heroine in it. Later, Nammora Mandara Hoove happened which was another romantic subject. I always love to experiment and attempt the unusual. They drive the writer in me and executing such subjects is a hard task. I am glad that the audience have accepted my ‘unusual’ films and even Udgarsha falls under the same category,” he explains. He has even made the psychological thriller titled Marma.
Revealing the plot of Udgarsha, he says that it is an action thriller which takes place on New Year’s Eve and occurs within a time frame 48 hour. “Holding the attention with surprising twists is the essence here,” he adds.
While it has a long list of actors, Thakur Anoop Singh, who recently rose to fame with his antagonist role in Yajamana starring Challenging Star Darshan, says that he was surprised when Desai sir offered him the lead role.
A trained pilot and a successful model that has featured in several hit Hindi soaps including Mahabharatha says that when I was approached by the Desai sir who narrated the script, I wished that I got the opportunity to play the lead. “After the narration, when sir said that I will be playing the lead. I was totally shocked. I couldn’t believe this was happening. I am eagerly waiting for the outcome of it, as it is such a great opportunity to work with such a legendary filmmaker,” says Thakur who is also a certified pilot.
He shares that he trained as a pilot in the US, for over two years and gained the required confidence. “Modelling is beyond ramp walks and shows and it was television which gave me the much needed experience. I learnt the skills by looking at the works great artists. I would watch the experienced actors. I would even go to the theatres to watch the great actors like Naseeruddin Shah in live action. I feel blessed that I have had the opportunity to work with several great actors in South Indian films and Yajamana has turned out to be really well, following which Kannada audience have accepted for my talent. It was great to share the screen with challenging star Darshan, “he concluded.
