Vishnu Priya producer K Manju: When I got the story, the challenge was to get a director

One of the many Kannada films releasing on February 21 is Vishnu Priya, the long-delayed film featuring Shreyas K Manju in the lead. The film has been produced by the actor’s father, veteran Kannada filmmaker K Manju, who had been given a basic plotline by writer called Sindhushree, which he then got Ravi Srivatsa to adapt for the screen. Once the screenplay was ready, though, the next question was as to who would direct the film. And that is where the first challenge arose, says Manju.

The filmmaker reckons that the Kannada film industry has a dearth of quality directors. The established ones prefer to work with A-list stars, who have a certain market value, which keeps the filmmakers also in circulation. As such, they would then not want to work with newcomers, while the rest have demands that cannot be met, says Manju. “This was a time when audiences here began appreciating content from Malayalam cinema, so, I thought it would be apt to get a filmmaker from that industry to direct the film,” says the producer.

He then got VK Prakash on board, who had not done a Kannada film in a while and was looking at a comeback in the industry. “He’s done a fantastic job with the film, bringing out a cute love story and establishing all the family drama around it. Prakash kept Shreyas literally on a tight leash, not allowing him to overdo anything as far as his performance goes,” adds the filmmaker.

Apart from the fact that Vishnu Priya is an intense love story, the team has been quite tight-lipped about the content. Shreyas is paired with Malayalam actress Priya Prakash Varrier, who had become quite popular at the time for her viral wink in a song from her Mollywood debut film, Oru Adaar Love.