Written and Directed by Neel, ‘KGF’, which stands for Kolar Gold Fields (in Karnataka) is the story of Rocky (Yash), an orphan who rises out of poverty and becomes the king of a gold mine.
The two-part multilingual film, the first chapter of which was released in 2018, proved to be the highest-grossing film in the Kannada industry.
“When we started with the movie, we never thought it would be this (big) and that we would be here today. We didn’t start by trying to make it a pan-Indian movie or moreover, in two -pieces.
Connect with viewers
“We started as a Kannada film and eventually thought of splitting it into two parts and releasing it. Credit goes to the producer and Yash. For me, the idea was to connect with people with the mother story -son”, Neel said
PTI in an interview here.
The director thinks the human element in the story, an important aspect of making a mass entertainer, may have worked in the film’s favor.
“The human element is the number one thing we should put in a great movie. When you’re talking about larger than life movies, that human element ties everything together. For example, the way the characters behave should feel human to you. We We put a lot of importance on this (human element) during the filming of the first and second chapters.”
The film traces the history of gold mining and the mafia that runs it in the Kolar region of Karnataka.
If the pre-release buzz is to be believed, the film is among the most anticipated in Indian cinema this year.
According to Ashish Saksena, COO, of ticketing site BookMyShow, “KGF: Chapter 2” has already surpassed 2.5 million presale tickets. It is followed by another South Indian film, the Tamil film “Beast”, which crossed 1.8 million in ticket sales on the site.
pressure and expectations
Neel admits there is pressure ahead of the release to live up to public expectations.
“After watching the first part, everyone today has their own imagination for the story. They think it should be like this or like that.
“So the pressure is there for how they look at the story and not the pressure of whether we’re going to make money? From my perspective, I’m here to tell a story, I really hope that people love the story, it has to connect with people,” he added.
The resounding success of “KGF: Chapter 1” made the film’s lead actor, Yash, a Kannada film actor, a household name across the country.
Neel, who made his directorial debut with the 2014 Kannada film ‘Ugramm’, which was followed by ‘KGF: Chapter 1’, however, doesn’t believe he should take credit for the immense popularity enjoys Yash today.
“It’s because of all his hard work. Every talent you find, needs an opportunity and that opportunity came through ‘KGF’. If it wasn’t ‘KGF’, it would have been something else. The best talent will always show up sooner or later.”
The film’s backdrop may seem violent and harsh and in Neel’s words “hell on earth”, but he said it was important in moving Rocky’s story forward.
Not here to preach
According to the director, the intention was never to give a moral lesson to the public.
“He’s basically here to fulfill his mother’s wish, he won’t think of anything else and while he’s doing that, if people see any goodness in him, I think people will appreciate him. I don’t I’m not here to make a movie about morality. I’m not even here to tell people that violence is a necessity or not. I’m here to tell you this guy’s story.
For part two, the team enlisted popular Hindi film actors Sanjay Dutt and Raveena Tandon. Actors Prakash Raj, Eswari Rao, Rao Ramesh are also new additions to the cast.
“Mr Sanjay, Ms Raveena, Rao Ramesh, Eeswari Rao, Prakash Raj, they were brilliant on set. It was like we were on a picnic because there was no pressure for us to do anything. something new.”
Only Dutt for Adheera
The director said he only had Dutt in mind for the role of the antagonist, Adheera, in the film.
“Casting Sanjay sir was a no-brainer. We had already written (about) him when scripting the first chapter, but we didn’t approach him until he became a hit,” he said .
For Tandon’s role as prime minister, he was looking for someone who could portray the role in a powerful way.
“I wanted a Hindi speaking person for that. So there was no other thought than Mrs. Raveena,” he added.
Released on April 14 in Kannada, Telugu, Tamil, Malayalam and Hindi, “KGF: Chapter 2” is produced by Vijay Kiragandur under the Hombale Films banner.