Chiru : She has brought a fresh flavour with her beauty

The Airtel you are trying to reach is currently switched off,” is what one has been hearing from Prabhudeva’s mobile phone for the last several days. A visit to Ramoji Film City where he is filming the remaining song on Chir anjeevi, Srikanth and a group of dancers on Friday last revealed on what a hectic schedule he has been having to complete the shoot and the remaining post production work for Gemini Film Circuits’ Shankar Dada Zindabad so as to m eet the producers’ dead line - the release being July 25. The song Good Morning… is played and the dancers and the actors begin to place their steps as taught to them by the ace choreographer-turned-director. A seasoned fil my dancer, it wasn’t difficult for Chiranjeevi to place those fast paced steps. Srikanth as his trusted lieutenant ATM, a character he had perfected in the first edition follows him. The song being filmed at various locations at RFC and since they have to complete it by the next day, there is hardly any time left for any one to spare.

Prabhudeva had made two straight films and this is his first remake in Telugu. “I chose Prabhudeva because of the poetic feel in the story. After watching his work in Nuvvosthanante Nenoddantana I felt he is the right choice,& said Chiranjeevi at the audio release function at Silpa Kalavedika, a few days ago. By acting in the film he became the first Telugu hero to do a sequel. Karishma Kotak replaces Vidya Balan in this Telugu version of Lage Raho Munnabhai. “She has brought a fresh flavour with her beauty and performance,” complimented Chiranjeevi.

The simple story line reads - how a local dada who confronts every situation with his unique street smart attitude and humour falls in love with a radio jockey that leads to him to an unexpected journey into history.

Since there is not much news to extract from the lead players who are so busy at the location, we shift to the recording theatre where music director Devi Sri Prasad is conducting the mixing. After a little bit of wait, he talks excitedly about his music. “There are two mega stars in the film,” he pauses for a while before completing the sentence. “Mahatma Gandhi and mega star Chiranjeevi. We were all excited doing the film as it is the first sequel in Telugu. It is very different from the first edition. This one leaves a strong message too besides entertaining. And the songs are situational. Without missing out on the commercial elements the music has to be in tune with the situations. At the same time I have to satisfy a large number of Chiranjeevi’s fans as they expect foot tapping numbers from him. This is really a challenging task for me,” he says.

The songs have already proved a chart buster and he is happy about it. “The song Good Morning being filmed now comes first in the film,” he says. “I enjoyed composing all the songs, but the one on Mahatma Gandhi, a tribute to the Father of the Nation (Hindi version’s Dilip Prabhavalkar is retained to play the role) written by Suddala Ashok Teja is my favourite. Aakalesthe Annam pedatha… by Sahiti is touching. I tuned it to the lyric in one night and sent to the unit which is shooting then in Australia for approval and when they all liked it I recorded the song the next day night. Songs like Jagadeka Veeruniki… Chandamama Kosame, Bhoolokamantha… enthral the audience while they watch them on the big screen.” “Lots of incidents that are happening around us are shown in the film. I think every Indian should watch the movie,” he says before turning to the console as the sounds of Shankar Dada Zindabad hooh haah hooh haah echo from the monitor.