Brahma is not a period film: R Chandru

When the first look of Real Star Upendra’s character from the Kannada film Brahma was released, there were images of him in warrior attire, prompting speculation that the film might be a historical. But director R Chandru says that is not the case. “Our film is a modern-day family entertainer, with the right amounts of romance, action and sentiment included.There is, however, a 10-minute story arc that is set in the 16th century, which sees Upendra play a warrior,” explains the director.
The sequence, adds Chandru, is an elaborate war setting and will explain the link between Upendra’s character in the modern storyline and his character as the one in the 16th century. The plan, says the director, was to can these scenes in Rajasthan, but eventually it was decided that the same, if not better, could be accomplished in Bangalore with special effects. “We created a story board for the sequence, along with stunt master Thriller Manju, and then shot the scenes in front of green screens. But not everything is going to be created graphically. We used 200-odd artists to play soldiers, who will be digitally multiplied to show thousands onscreen. We wanted the costumes to look authentic, so we got them all made — right from the clothes, to the war props, including the armour, swords and shields. We also procured nearly 75 horses from all across Karnataka. It took us a month to organize all the horses, during which time we got Upendra to take riding lessons too,” adds Chandru. The 16th century sequence, says the filmmaker, will give the film a rather opulent look, which he hopes will work in their favour when they release the film in Tamil and Telugu as well.