Anurag Kashyap Was A Mentor For Us For Dacoit, Says Adivi Sesh

He is a successful actor-screenwriter, and ever since his debut in Telugu cinema in 2010, Adivi Sesh has created a brand of cinema that's unique to him. In this exclusive chat with NDTV, the Major star talks about his upcoming film Dacoit: A Love Story starring him, Mrunal Thakur, and Anurag Kashyap. The film, directed by his best friend Shaneil Deo, is up for release on April 10, and interestingly, he has co-written the screenplay of this neo-Western.

"Many people ask me why I've disappeared for the last two-and-a-half years. I haven't - I've been really busy writing and shooting Dacoit and Goodachari 2; I've done a few cameos as well during this time. Dacoit was shot in 149 days, and we shot it simultaneously in Hindi and Telugu," explains Adivi Sesh.

Shaneil Deo, who's making his directorial debut with Dacoit, has been the cinematographer for Adivi's films Kshanam and Goodachari. Asked him how his best friend turned director for Dacoit and the HIT: The Second Case actor says, "Shaneil and I grew up together in California, and we've been best friends since. He is my brother. We've worked together in several Telugu films and I'd been wanting him to direct a film for a long time. Shaneil told me he'd let me know when he's ready and when he was, we made Dacoit."

Dacoit has been shot in Hindi and Telugu and is locally rooted to ensure that the different language audiences get an extremely authentic experience. Adivi explains that it comes from the fact that both he and Shaneil have different sensibilities when it comes to language. "Shaneil is comfortable in Hindi and I in Telugu - so we understand what is required when a movie is made in Hindi and Telugu. We wanted to give audiences an authentic Hindi film and an authentic Telugu film, and I think we've achieved that."

Actor, writer, and director Anurag Kashyap played a significant role not just in the movie but beyond the sets as well. "I met Anurag at Sobhita's wedding and ended up narrating the entire story to him there. He said yes, and the rest is history. For the Hindi dialogues, we took his input extensively - I mean, we had India's best Hindi dialogue writer on set! He guided us through the film and that was amazing," he smiles.

The trailer of Dacoit looked rustic and raw with high-octane action (the movie had six action choreographers) but had plenty of emotions coming through as well with Mrunal Thakur's character. In fact, the cinematography of the film is striking, says Adivi, with even the climax being shot at a 45-degree angle. When you ask him why this was conceived as a neo-Western, Adivi says that Shaneil and he wanted to bring a Hollywood-style Western in an Indian ethos to the big screen here.

"The Andhra Pradesh-Karnataka border has a very distinct linguistic style (Madanapally Telugu) and terrain (mountainous). This always fascinated me, and I thought, why not make a movie using this landscape? Dacoit is a neo-western love story where there's a Hollywood sensibility of filmmaking, but it's Indian at its core. There is a lot of action, but it revolves around love. Shaneil and I have always loved cowboy films (Westerns), and the way he has conceptualised and shot Dacoit shows his passion for visual framing. He also has excellent music aesthetics," adds the Kshanam actor.

Mrunal Thakur has an equal footing in this film and essays the role of his girlfriend, Saraswati, aka Juliet. And Adivi Sesh raves about her as a performer, saying, "Initially, we didn't understand Mrunal. One day she'd be extremely chirpy on set, and the next day absolutely quiet, and we'd be wondering what happened. It's then that we realised that she got so immersed into her character and how she was on set was based on the scenes she was shooting that day. If the scenes were serious and emotional, she'd keep to herself on set to ensure that her performance was authentic. Her face conveys emotions so effortlessly - it's beautiful to watch that on screen. She's extremely focused and invested as an actor and easy to work with."

Given that now everyone talks about pan-Indian films, would he call Dacoit a pan-Indian film? Adivi Sesh smiles and says, "I call it an all-Indian film. There's extensive cross-industry creative collaboration on this film, and Dacoit will suit the sensibilities of people across India and will connect with them. It's an intense love story, a story of pain, set in a rugged world."

Also Read: Dacoit Trailer: Adivi Sesh, Mrunal Thakur In A Tale Of Love And Betrayal