PremiumTeaser of Shreyas Manju’s love story with Priya Varrier out on April 5
Directed by VK Prakash, the film is likely to get a summer release
Last Updated: 11.15 PM, Apr 04, 2023
After the debacle that was his debut, Paddehuli, Shreyas Manju picked two drastically different movies to do next. One was a hardcore commercial entertainer called Raana, directed by Nandakishore, while the other was a realistic love story helmed by VK Prakash. Called Vishnu Priya, the film, which was shot across locations in Chikkamagaluru and Bengaluru, pairs Shreyas with Priya Prakash Varrier, best known for her wink act in the Malayalam film Oru Adaar Love.
The film, which has been ready for a while, is being prepped for a summer of 2023 release, finally, in the run-up to which a teaser is being released on April 5. Vishnu Priya is a film that Shreyas has been quite excited about, because it is not like the run-of-the-mill stories. Speaking to OTTplay earlier, he had said, “Vishnu Priya is complete and has come out well. In April 2021, we’d been approached by an OTT platform to release it, but we decided against it, solely because the visuals of the film, which have been shot amid greenery and mist, are meant for a theatrical viewing. My character in the film is mad about love, which, we believe, audiences will be able to relate to. The dialogues are different, there is no comedy track or action. It has a very realistic feel to it, much like what you see in Malayalam or Tamil films. Honestly, I still have butterflies in my stomach about having done something so different.”
The experience of having worked with VK Prakash is also something that Shreyas cherishes. “VKP sir made a much better actor out of me. He does not tolerate any form of heroism or exaggeration with body language, dialogue delivery or expressions. He would tell me if he thought I was overdoing anything and got me to be as real as possible with the most subtle expressions. In a sense, this involved a lot of unlearning whatever I had done in my debut film. If you look at most Kannada films, they tend to be loud in all aspects. Vishnu Priya is nothing like that,” Shreyas had said.