Sai Ram Shankar, the younger brother of top director Puri Jagannath, talks about why he can’t work with his brother, why he has taken breaks and his future projects…
suresh kavirayani
Top director Puri Jagannath’s brother Sai Ram Shankar is playing the lead in the film ‘Oka Pathakam Prakaram’, a crime genre. The film is releasing on February 7 and Sai Ram Shankar is pinning his hopes on this one. “I am confident that the story of this film is definitely a good one and after watching this one, people will appreciate it.”
The actor said that he has been approached for many films, but not worked out. “Some films because of budget and some of them I didn’t like. But I am getting a lot of offers these days,” said Sai Ram. He added that after this film he is going to act continuously. “I am open to any roles,” he said. If the role is good and he likes it, then he is ready to do it. “I am not sticking to play only lead characters. I am open to any other role, but it should be prominent,” he said.
Director Vinod Vijayan is a Malayali and did he know Telugu? “Yes, he knows Telugu and he speaks also,” said Sai Ram. He added that the director has won a few awards for his film and definitely helps for this film. “In Malayalam, he directed two films with Fahadh Faasil and at a young age he became a director. He is also a friend of mine since the last 15 years,” said Sai Ram.
Talking about the role, he said he is playing a criminal lawyer in it. “After the shooting started, for the first two days, I felt something wrong. So, I stopped and then did a workshop for nearly a month learning more about the body language and behavior of lawyers to get realistic.” He added that they announced the cash prize of Rs 10,000 to any person if they identified the villain at the interval. “Actually, this announcement helps our film to get popular,” he said.
Apart from the director, there are many Malayalam people who worked for this film and do they plan to release it there? “Not now, but once released in Telugu, we will definitely release it in Malayalam and Tamil,” said the actor. He added that there are a few actors like Samuthirakani in the film.
The climax fight which they shot nearly with 25 dogs is going to be the highlight. “Yes, there was a big fight and we shot for nearly seven days. The dogs are not friendly ones, but regular breeds. While shooting for this fight, one dog came into my grill which scared me a lot. I called the action choreographer, but he was watching the scene on camera. To escape from it, I climbed the grill and in the meantime, the dog master came to my rescue.”
His elder brother Puri Jagannath is one of the top directors and when asked whether there was any chance of acting in his film? “No”, said Sai Ram without giving any reason. This film is releasing along with Naga Chaitanya and Sai Pallavi starrer ‘Thandel’. “No, I am not competing with ‘Thandel’, but my film is releasing next to that film,” said Sai Ram.
The actor said that he was also approached for a web series. “I am working for a mythological web series in which I am playing a 60-year-old man in it,” he said. He added that another film ‘Resound’ is almost over and a few more projects are in the pipeline.
