Exclusive! "If there's an epitome of immortality and agelessness for us Kannadigas, it has to be Shivanna," says filmmaker Sachin B. Ravi

Sachin B. Ravi might only be a film old but his career so far isn't devoid of meaningful experience by any means. His debut came about in 2019 with Avane Srimannarayana, a rather ambitious project that marked Rakshit Shetty's return to the big screen following a three-year break after the blockbuster 'Kirik Party'. Avane Srimannarayana demanded scale, intent, and perseverance, and although a debutant director is never the usual choice, Sachin's career seemed destined to take off in the most unorthodox of ways. Despite the pressures, he took things in his stride and forged on. 

"I was never bogged down by the scale of the project but the issue lay somewhere else altogether. For the majority of my professional life, I had worked as an editor which meant a certain degree of independence - in fact, I wouldn't even employ assistant editors because I liked to take care of things on my own. So, when I found myself on the sets of Avane Srimannarayana, I was unable to easily delegate work to all the various departments and rest assured that it would all be taken care of. I didn't have enough faith initially that each department head, be it of art, production, camera, costumes, etc., would be able to deliver what I wanted so I would worry beyond bounds and follow up repeatedly. I suppose that phase was emotionally draining for me but once I got through that, things got pretty easy and I settled in well as the director. That, I would say, is my biggest takeaway from the whole experience of Avane Srimannarayana," says the very candid Sachin. 

But has that discouraged him from taking on yet another big film? The answer would be a firm NO as he is now gearing up for a spy thriller with the mighty Shiva Rajkumar that comes as a unique blend of mythology and the espionage genre. The project has already made the news with the title Ashwatthama attached to it and the reputation of being a slick superhero film but Sachin iterates that he isn't making any ordinary superhero film but one that can be relatable to the Indian and Kannada audiences. He also adds as a necessary disclaimer that many have been led to believe that since the film is based on the Ashwatthama character in the Mahabharata, that's also the title of the film. The team will be revealing the actual title along with some promotional material in the coming weeks.

"Ashwatthama, the Mahabharatha character, and the son of Dronacharya is still on planet Earth and thanks to the fact that he is immortal that he is all his wits too in check. In our narrative, there is a superhero-like aura about Ashwatthama but his life too is under threat because someone's after him for a secret he withholds. It's a spy thriller that concerns a superhero but we have taken a lot of liberty in terms of genre subversion so the audiences will get to see something quite new this time around. He isn't like the usual superheroes like Superman or Spiderman but is more believable, rooted, and very human. In a sense, he is a lot closer to The Wolverine from the X-Men series because here too, there's no concept of "saving the world", per se, but the battle is to save himself."

"And since I am a superhero fanatic and boast of a prominent background in visual effects, it was natural that I would be drawn to the genre. I had been developing a story based on an immortal character and at one point, I could refer to our own mythology and that's the dots were connected. I feel the audience would be able to connect to this at a higher emotional level now," shares Sachin B. Ravi.

And when quizzed about Shivanna being his only casting choice, Sachin asserts that he didn't even have a second actor on his mind while penning the script. For him, Shiva Rajkumar stands as the perfect parallel to agelessness and immortality, and with him being a bonafide superstar, every box was ticked on the checklist. "Hasn't he done a film in practically every genre? So, I feel that our audiences will not find him out of place if he were to do a superhero film tomorrow because they are used to such pleasant surprises from him. And he is so kicked about the film - when I first met him to narrate the story, he was so excited about the world and his character that there was no second-guessing about my casting choice," adds Sachin.