Actor Nithiin Reddy, who will be seen as a messenger in forthcoming Telugu-Tamil bilingual "Courier Boy Kalyan", had to shed his flashy image for the film, says television actor-turned-director Premsai.
"The protagonist of my film is a courier boy, who is usually your boy-next-door. Nithiin is mostlly known for playing these suave loverboy roles. He's a very flashy hero with a certain image among his fans and audience. He had to shed that image for the film," Premsai told IANS.
Although he admits it's not easy to imagine Nithiin as a courier boy, that itself became the unique selling point of the film.
"Audiences would like to know how we have portrayed Nithiin. At the time when the film was launched, Nithiin was expecting to do something different, unlike anything he did till then. So when I offered him this role, he jumped at the opportunity," he said.
Produced by filmmaker Gautham Vasudev Menon, the film is titled "Tamilselvanum Thaniyar Anjalum", and features actor Jai in the lead role.
Yami Gautam plays the heroine in both the versions of the movie.
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Initially, the idea was to make the film in Tamil. But producer Gautham felt it could be made as a bilingual.
"As a producer, he felt the idea was commercially viable. Ultimately, I want to be a producer's director and when there's a scope for doing a film in another language, I don't see why it shouldn't be done," said Premsai, who finds the bilingual culture very healthy.
"Not many debutant directors get an opportunity to be launched in two languages at the same time. Although I wrote the script primarily for Tamil audiences, we changed the treatment for the Telugu version. It may take only about 40 km from Tamil Nadu border to reach Andhra, but there are regional differences," he said.
Premsai also brushed aside rumours that the film is a remake of English thriller "Premium Rush".
"I registered my script with the writer's council in 2011. 'Premium Rush' released towards the end of 2012 and by then, we had completed about 60 percent of the shooting. Apart from the fact that the protagonists in both the films are a messenger, which is pure coincidence, nothing else is similar," he clarified.
"It's probably because of the rarity of the protagonist being a messenger in both the films that these allegations have been circulated around," he added.
With over a decade's experience as a television actor, Premsai decided to go behind the camera to satisfy his creative desire.
He had assisted choreographer-filmmaker Prabhudheva on southern projects such as "Shankar Dada Zindabad" and worked as a dialogue writer for "Engeyum Kadhal".
"This brief stint with Prabhudheva helped me become what I'm today. My experience as an actor gave me the confidence to take the plunge into direction," he said.