Priyamani’s woman centric film ‘Charulatha’, with a tagline ‘Never Break A Promise’, is the story of two sisters (conjoined twins) who love each other. Directed by Pon Kumaran, the film was made in all four south Indian languages – Telugu, Tamil, Kannada and Malayalam. Ramesh Murthy has produced the Telugu version. The film is set to hit theaters worldwide on September 21st in all four south Indian languages. Geetha Arts banner is going to release the Telugu version across Andhra Pradesh. As part of promotional event, Priyamani took some time out and spoke to the media personnel about her film, which she expects to be a milestone film. Here are few excerpts:
Charulatha showcases whether conjoined twins can lead a normal life
The story of ‘Charulatha’ is about two sisters, the conjoined twins, who absolutely love each other. A film on conjoined twins is first of its kind in Indian Cinema since no one has attempted it in Indian cinema till date. It showcases whether such conjoined twins can lead a normal life and what will happen if a boy enters into their life.
I took this role as a challenge and did it
The main reason that I’ve done this film was this type of role is something which I haven’t done in my career so far. Hence I took it as a challenge and did it. For the first the audience will see two Priyamanis together on silver screen.
Charulatha is a thriller film attached with sentiment
It’s basically a thriller film attached with sentiment. Films of this genre usually do not have comedy elements. However, the director inserted a small comedy track in a classic way with a small boy called Manju. Since I dubbed my voice for this film in Kannada and Tamil, I can say that this is a very good film. The entire team worked hard for this film. Actress Sharanya garu is playing my mother role and Seeta garu is playing yet another vital role in the film.
Charulatha is director Pon Kumaran’s 2nd film
He worked assistant director with sr directors like K Bhagyaraj and K S Ravi Kumar. This is his second film as a director. He made his directorial debut as director with a Kannada film in which Vishnuvardhana, Sudeep and I played lead roles.
I don’t do movies keeping awards in mind
I don’t do movies keeping awards in mind nor I’m aiming at woman centric films. I did this film only because the story touched my heart and I’ve not done a film based on conjoined twins in my career. I’ve put in my 100% hard work in the movie, so an award would be an added bonus to me.
CG and Re-recording played vital roles in Charulatha
CG (Computer Graphics) plays very important role in this film. Similarly RR (re-recording) also played vital role. It goes in a subtle way from start to end. This is not a musical film but certainly there are few scenes which will send chills down the audience’s spine.
Deepika should be given the credit for working as hard as me for my role
Yes, I agree that computer graphics play vital role in the film. But I would like to mention about the girl named Deepika, who was besides me throughout the shooting. So I’ve to give her a big credit since her hard work was as equal as mine in the amount of time and effort. Basically she was my support because I was not looking at the blank space and performing. She was next to me whichever character I played among the conjoined twins. While enacting the role of conjoined twins, the director used to mark the foot prints on which we had to walk accurately. Even if make a small mistake, we had to reshoot the whole scene again. So we took enough time and did it carefully. Sometimes the shooting used to go on from morning 8 A.M to mid-night 2 A.M or even till next morning 6 A.M.
We have included two songs in Charulatha though not required
Music is also pretty important in this film. The posters here indicate that we have come to a music class to learn violin. Films of this genre do not require songs, however we have included two numbers in ‘Charulatha’. Sunder C Babu composed the music. His background score and re-recording are extraordinary, and of course the songs too.
Audiences are going to see conjoined twins for the first time on silver screen
A film on this kind of subject is coming up for the first time on silver screen in Indian cinema. People would have seen the conjoined twins in television and read news about them, but for the first time they are going to see on silver screen how conjoined twins would look like.
Charulatha is a mix of thrill, action, sentiment and comedy
‘Charulatha’ is a mix of thrill, action, sentiment and comedy. So it’s a whole package and I’m very proud that I’m part of one such wonderful project. I’ve given my 100%. The movie is set to release shortly, mostly on September 21st. So all I can say is our entire unit did lot of hard work and we need the audience support and encouragement.
