Ganesh to be seen in mass, action film

He calls it his crucial film, and that's probably why director PC Shekar opted to work with his trusted actor Ganesh, twice over, in Style King. He tells us about what went into the making of this film...

This is the second time you are working with Ganesh. What made you choose him for your story?
It is actually the other way around. I chose the story because I was working with Ganesh. He and I worked together in Romeo last, and we share a great rapport. But to work with him again meant dealing with new challenges. And most important of them all was to be able to present Ganesh in a role or character that he has never done before. I studied his career, and interacted with a lot of his fans before coming to the conclusion that there were two immediate aspects that were surprisingly not touched upon. One was the fact that he had never done a double role, and two was that his fans have always asked of him to be a part of a mass, action-oriented film. Style King, therefore, is a result of that.

What do you think the audience is looking for in a film?
I find that there is a definite change in the way the audience looks at films. The older generation had limited entertainment options, with movies being the main source of entertainment. So, even if the movie was a bit slow paced or more message-oriented, there were still takers. Today, entertainment is available at the click of a button wherever you are and the attention span of people has reduced. So, to keep them entertained and hooked is a bigger challenge. Watching movies in theatres has become more of a weekend activity. As filmmakers, we need to create options that will totally entertain them. I ensure that my films have all the aspects of entertainment in them ' be it the main story, the screenplay, the action and comedy and the grandeur that comes through with the songs, etc.



What kind of films do you watch?
I watch a lot of foreign films, mainly to study the differences and similarities between filmmaking processes. I have found that no matter how culturally different every industry may be, the emotions that people feel are the same everywhere.

Are you much of a reader? Would you work on converting written work to the visual medium?
I am extremely lazy when it comes to reading and am more of a visual person. I have a lot of friends who read, though, and I often talk about films that have been based on books with them.

Is Style King based on anything in particular?
It is a complete fantasy. A story-writer need not have gone through a certain experience to be able to write about it. I have put together various incidents that I have heard of, developed them and put them together. This film has three stories in all. Two of them run parallel through the first half and merge at the interval to begin the third story. All three stories see an apt end later. It is a film that sees Ganesh in a never-before-seen avatar, and it is definitely his best work till date.