Chennai, Jan 18
The makers of the pan-Indian film ‘Kannappa’, featuring Vishnu Manchu in the lead, are leaving no stone unturned to take their film based on the story of the warrior devotee of Lord Shiva to the next generation.
During an interaction with the media in Chennai, journalists were presented with two volumes of a comic. When Vishnu Manchu was asked about the comic books and if whether the story in them was what was being made into the film, he replied, “You have two volumes. We have also got a third volume which will be ready in a fortnight.
“For this generation, by which I mean kids who are less than 16 years old, I have to prepare them for a story of this kind. Initially, when we launched this book, I put out a message on Instagram asking those who wanted a copy of the comics to DM me. This was six to seven months ago. We only printed 5,000 copies and for even that, there were people who were apprehensive, saying, "Who will read them."
“However, until today, we have printed 80,000 books so far. The interest is quite high and we want that interest to translate to the film,†Vishnu said.
Pointing out that comic books only have the base of the story, Vishnu said, “The true story is much, much different from what you see. Kannappa is a story that can be told in a single page. It is about how an atheist changed to being a devotee. When Lord Shiva wanted to see how big a devotee Kannappa was and put him to the test, he himself was surprised that he had such a big devotee in Kannappa so much so that he said that before puja is offered to him in his temple, it will have to be offered to Kannappa first.
“But who was Kannappa and what did he do before this interaction with Shiva. There are several versions and this film is my version of who Kannappa is. What was his journey and his relationship with his dad. I took the liberty of writing it. This is based on true facts but in my version of what it could have been,†the actor replied.
The film, which is being directed by Mukesh Kumar Singh, features some of the top stars of the Indian film industry including Vishnu Manchu, Mohan Babu, Mohanlal, Prabhas, Preity Mukundhan, Akshay Kumar, Sarathkumar and Kajal Aggarwal. Cinematography is by US cinematographer Sheldon Chau and Indian cinematographer Siddharth.
- IANS