All they want is love
M.L. NARASIMHAM
| ‘18-20 Love Story’ is not a regular boy-meets-girl story, the makers promise. |
Sivaji helps the young lovers and why he does so will keep the audience guessing
Different folks: Shradha Das and Sivaji in a still from the film.
As we stepped into the white house, an angry Vinod Kumar is facing the camera. He looks every bit a wealthy businessman, and his ire is directed at his daughter (played by debutante Rineel Rauth) as his wife (Deepa) and a key character in the family (Jhansi) wear terrified expressions. Once the actor’s fretting and fuming is over, director Radhakrsihna walks up and talks to the senior actor. It looks like the director expected some more emphasis while delivering the dialogue. Vinod Kumar smiles and once Sivakumar’s camera rolled, he gets into the skin of the character and this time performed the way the director wanted him to.
The shot is for Shilpi Creations’ maiden venture, 18-20 Love Story, produced by T. Nageswara Rao and K. Ramesh Babu. Rineel hails from the U.S and is new to acting. Sivaji is cast in a major role as a dada who does various kinds of settlements in that area. Exhibitor-distributor turned producer Nageswara Rao says that one has to believe to see the actor in such a refreshingly new role with a mass touch. Shradha Das plays an orphan who runs an orphanage and is the love interest of Sivaji.
The sprawling drawing room with a décor that reveals the lavish lifestyle of the business tycoon, once again buzzes with activity as the shoot recommences after a tea break. This time it is for the teen heroine Rineel to air her views to her dad. She tries to convince him about the young man she is deeply in love with. The dad, as in many previous films, frets over his social status and questions how he can possibly give his daughter in marriage to a dhabawala (played by Manoj).
The scenes where the young hero Manoj runs his dhaba were shot earlier near Anakapalli, informed producer Rao. Manoj was earlier a child actor and played the younger version of Mahesh Babu (Athadu) and Prabhas (Chatrapati). Chinna plays his father and newcomer Anitha, his mother.
Is it a period story that dates back to the nineteenth century? Rao laughs. It is not a circa 1820 love story. The dates are separated by a hyphen mark and it is not the young pair’s age too. Guess what it will be? He leaves that in suspense.
Though it is a love story, the emphasis is on mother sentiment, informs the producer warning us before hand not to expect just another of those teenage love stories. Pragathi plays Sivaji’s mother and he does anything for his mother, even at one stage renouncing the path of violence to keep her happy. But before that happens, a lot of action takes place. He helps the young lovers unite and why he does that forms the twist in the central plot, says Rao, again keeping things under wraps.
The unit shot five songs (composed by Sri Murali) in scenic Bangkok, Anakapalli and in Hyderabad.
As we turn towards the performers, it is now the turn of the irrepressible Jhansi to intervene. But Vinod Kumar does not relent. The emotion charged scene brought with it absolute silence among the unit. It is Radhakrishna’s second venture and the producer wants his film to get him the big break. “He is doing a fantastic job.” The movie is slated for release in mid-March.
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