10 May 2022
Hyderabad
The filming of Akkineni Nagarjuna-starrer The Ghost, directed by Praveen Sattaru, is in the final leg. Speaking to idlebrain exclusively, Praveen informs the film is six days away from a wrap-up, with the new schedule set to start from May 12 in Hyderabad. “The film will be wrapped up by this month. We’ve shot it in Goa, Ooty and Dubai so far for 66 days. The post-production will take at least three months because the film has a lot of VFX shots,” he states.
Describing the film as an intense action-drama, Praveen reveals that Nag will be seen as an Interpol officer only in the opening portions of the film, after which he quits his job. Cagey about discussing the logline at this juncture, the director maintains, “Nagarjuna garu gives a promise to someone about taking care of someone and how he honours it forms the crux.”
Praveen states that Nag has been awesome to work with. “He brought the character alive with his skills and screen presence. He had a lot of tough action to perform but he pulled it off with panache and ease. The introduction scene in Dubai will be one of the highlights of the film,” he promises, adding that the film has eight major and four minor action sequences, with Kecha choreographing the Dubai action part, while Dinesh Subbarayan supervised the major action part in India. Kannada Ravi Varma did a small sequence as well. “The action has emotion in the film. The villain has emotion, so you’ll connect with his pain. The action drives the story forward. After Akhari Poratam and Rakshakudu, this tops Nag’s filmography action sequences wise. We haven’t seen him in this kind of action in the last 20 years.”
Praveen believes Sonal Chauhan will be the surprise package of the film. “She will come out as an action heroine after this film. She plays an Interpol officer who works alongside Nagarjuna garu. Together, they are like ice and fire. While he is hot-headed, she comes across as a strong woman who calms him down. When she is not around, he goes on a rampage. To put it in Marvel language, he is the Hulk, while she is the Black Widow. Their action sequences are like a ballet. She never held a gun to begin with, so she took two months to prep for the part. She has worked really hard and nailed the part. She is even dubbing for her role,” the director raves.
The film, a joint production venture between Sunil Narang, Puskur Rammohan Rao and Sharrath Marar, marks the Telugu debut of Bollywood actor Manish Chaudhary, who won critical acclaim for his turns in projects like Rocket Singh: Salesman of the Year and Aarya. “He will be seen as the main villain in the film and he is also dubbing for his part. Then there is Gul Panag who plays Nag’s sister, while Anikha Surendran will be seen as her daughter. Srikanth Iyengar and Ravi Varma round off the supporting cast,” he concludes.
-NAGARAJ GOUD
