Exclusive! My turnaround between characters on the internet and films was taking long, so I brought Gopi sooner: Danish Sait

Danish Sait is back with a film and this time, he brings his character, Gopi, who’s best remembered for reviewing ‘non-veg films’ and wanting to get married, to a government school, where he joins as the arts and crafts teacher. But on day one on the job, Gopi and the staff and students are held hostage by a four-member gang of social media activists. The film, written and directed by Danish’s long-time pal Vamsidhar Bhogaraju, will release on Amazon Prime Video on February 3.

Danish, just a month ago you were promoting Humble Politiciann Nograj the series and now you have a film release with One Cut Two Cut…

I am extremely grateful that Humble Politiciann Nograj the series did well and that the stakeholders are happy too. I have now moved on to something else, which is a brand-new start, because the thing about content is that when you are a part of it and have been promoting yourself for so many years, it is important that for the people who are involved, there’s a value-back that’s given to them. That’s been my endeavour - to drive value back to people who have invested in me. And here we are with One Cut Two Cut from PRK Productions, with Amazon Prime Video showcasing it to people. It’s huge and am grateful to the stakeholders who believed in the idea to produce it and turn a dream into reality.

Watch the full interview here:  

You are three films and a series old now… Looking back, was this the dream when you set out to be an actor?

This was never the dream. This feels like a dream, a sweet little dream that I would like to stay with it. When you get this far, with the right people helping you at the right points based on the merit of your abilities, and you look back and wonder, ‘Could life have been something different?’ I don’t think I could have asked for anything better. I am extremely overwhelmed at an event like this because, when you start out, you want to be part of a film – you don’t know who is giving it to you, who is casting you, if there is an opportunity, you stand in auditions, you are waiting to meet the right people and hoping for that one moment where they look at you and go ‘this is what I see in this person’.

Now that we are here, I am happy that out of the three films I have done so far, I have driven back value to my investors; the platforms are happy with the way the content has performed. The fact that I am back with Amazon Prime Video means that something is working. I am glad that I am at the right end of it and I wouldn’t want it to be any other way.

So, here’s the thing Danish, you are going to have to do a lot of the talking about One Cut Two Cut, because director Vamsidhar Bhogaraju is a man of few words…

It’s nice that way… Vamsi’s a little overwhelmed by the occasion; it’s a factor of time and age. People don’t get opportunities easily and when you do get it, it’s overwhelming. One Cut Two Cut is a film with its heart in the right place. It’s about an arts teacher in the middle of a siege, where there are four social media activists disgruntled with life, who want individual things for themselves, but they’ve come together with a list of demands. It is about Gopi saving the day or not, being with the kids or not, if I say that, I drives the purpose of watching the film out of the window. I would like everyone to watch the film and just experience this 85-minute-long film with absolute happiness. We’ve worked very hard on it and made it with the right intention.

Gopi is a character we’ve seen very little of – he’s this bumbling innocent guy who reviews non-veg films and is desperate to get married. Besides that, there’s not much we know of him. Did that give you a bigger canvas to develop this character?

Yeah, I took a leap of faith much quicker on this one. The spring in the step was a lot faster as compared to the other characters, because I realised that my turnaround between characters on the internet and films was taking a little too long. With Gopi I realised I could turn it around quickly. A large part of that credit has to go to Vamsidhar (the director) and the team at PRK Productions, because I can believe an idea/concept is great, but if someone doesn’t buy into that and sees that there are multiple possibilities to it, then the idea remains in my head and doesn’t translate into anything. So, to work on Gopi and to have us develop a film with this and to do it in such quick time has worked in our favour, because we’ve been able to give it a world that we wanted to give it, unlike something that is so strongly seeded on social media, where when you break into a film, people have expectations. This one’s a clean slate; it’s still fresh.

This is also your second film with Prakash Belawadi…

Prakash’s Instagram handle came about because of this film. I named him grumpyoldbelawadi, because his character in this film is quite grumpy. Working with him again, after the series Humble Politiciann Nograj, was a great experience, because off camera we are back to being ourselves and I would like to say that he’s a friend. We talk about endless things, life, social causes he’s a part of, what I am doing, how I look at life; there are multiple conversations. To collaborate with him again in such quick time was an incredible opportunity and I look forward to doing it on many more occasions.

Tell us a little more about the rest of the cast…

Samyukta (Hornad) and I have known each other for a very long time. The friendship is very evident. I have great respect for the number of years she has spent in the film world. I am only three films and a series old and I already feel I have aged a few years. It’s great to have Samyukta around because I tend to talk to her if I need advice about things; it’s likewise and the relationship is simple.

Vineeth Beep from the Jordindian, who I have known for a while, is in the film. I was among the first to reach out to them and tell them how brilliant they are and that they needed to monetize the content they were bringing out and make a business out of the fun and games that they were having. Vineeth is a friend and working with him was fun.

All the actors on the film are people we’ve known for a while. The process was fun; when we set out to make a film with the friends that I collaborate with, there’s a sense of respect among us. That adds to the camaraderie because all of us know what our roles are and what we bring to the table. Any relationship only grows where there is respect.

Let’s go back to the writing of this film. During the trailer launch, you mentioned how different putting together a two-minute video with set up, punchline, set up, another punchline, is, vis a vis making a full-length feature film. Could you elaborate?

I am still learning; I can’t turn around and say I have mastered it – it’s an everyday process. The attempt is to do something new and pick little things you can use in your next project. Having said that, writing this was a lot of fun, because Vamsi is making his directorial debut and he comes with no baggage. He comes innocent and fresh into this world. Also, the screenplay was run past people at multiple levels, be it the late Puneeth (Rajkumar) anna, who read the script and asked us to move things around, or Ashwini (Puneeth) ma’am. It’s a continuous process, where you are constantly learning. Even now, when I look at the film, there are things that make me wonder if I could have done something differently. I think that’s a part of being creative and an artiste. The day you think you’ve mastered something, it’s time to pack your bags and head elsewhere. If you are constantly growing and learning in the process, then it just makes it that much more enjoyable.