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INT: 'We started off as a Kannada movie and ended up being an Indian film': Prashanth Neel on KGF 2 & Yash
In an exclusive interview with Pinkvilla, Prashanth Neel discusses KGF: Chapter 2, the conflict between Yash and Sanjay Dutt in the sequel and how Ram Gopal Varma inspired him to make gangster films.
The release of KGF: Chapter 2 is round the corner and the movie is already making all the noise for the right reason. Prashanth Neel is however a calm man eager to see how the audience receives his labour of love. The director informs that he started the journey on KGF in mid-2014. “I met Yash with my producer, and he liked the subject. That’s how it all started. We took a year to work on the script and by early 2017, the film was on floor,” the director admits.
He terms it a long journey, but the one where he learnt a lot. “None of us had made such big movies before, so it became a learning curve for all of us, as we went along. And all through the journey, I think, we finally got it right,” Prashanth says. The filmmaker had the vision to dream big, and credits his producer, Vijay Kiragandur, to bring his vision to the spectacle. “Every director wants to make a very big movie, but it can’t be made without the support of the producer. I had two people standing by my side – the production house and Yash.”
It is Ram Gopal Varma’s influence. He has made such amazing movies back in the day. I love films like Godfather and Scarface. So, this genre has been in my head since then. I feel, one has not explored the gangster genre on a commercial level
Prashanth Neel
KGF aka Kolar Gold Field was initially planned as a single film, but it’s a month into the shoot when Neel realised that the screenplay can be split into two parts. “We were spending a lot of money and I was not happy with it personally. I felt it had the scope of being split into two parts. I took up the case with Yash and my producer, took a month to write a screenplay and then we took the film to the second chapter. We enhanced our story and moved forward,” he exults.
Neel states that the success of Chapter One gave him the bandwidth to amp up the budget for the second chapter. “We started off as a Kannada movie and ended up being an Indian film. We have not done anything drastically different, but yes, we got a little more budget to make things bigger. Most of our key content is in the second chapter of the film, even in the original script when it was a single part film,” Neel smiles. A glimpse at Prashanth’s filmography and one can conclude that he is acing the space of making gangster films.
The director agrees, and says, “It is Ram Gopal Varma’s influence. He has made such amazing movies back in the day. I love films like Godfather and Scarface. So, this genre has been in my head since then. I feel, one has not explored the gangster genre on a commercial level. So, I wanted to create gangster films in commercial space. KGF 2 is an emotional story in the gangster set up.”
The sequel features Yash alongside Sanjay Dutt. While Yash is seen as Rocky, Sanjay Dutt makes a menacing appearance as Adheera. The filmmaker confirms that the character of Adheera was written keeping Sanjay Dutt’s aura in mind. “Initially, we were making a Kannada movie. So, we were not sure if he would be open to doing it. We thought, if the first film works, we will approach him for the particular role in chapter 2. And that’s what happened.”
We were spending a lot of money and I was not happy with it personally. I felt it had the scope of being split into two parts
Prashanth Neel
More than being the tale of a gangster, KGF 2 is a simple mother son story for Prashanth. “Chapter 2 is very high on emotions. I don’t think I can ever make a movie without emotions as it’s the emotion that keeps the movie and madness together,” he keeps it short, promising a face off between Rocky and Adheera. He signs off, “You have to represent hope and fear in a film and both my characters represent that. The two characters represent great conflict, but there are multiple other conflicts in the film - within Rocky himself, with the government, within his circle. We are addressing all of it in the movie and the biggest symbol of conflict are Adheera and Rocky.” KGF 2 is slated to release on April 14.
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