‘Donga’ is emotional, edge-of-the-seat: Karthi

Karthi awaits the release of ‘Donga’ (‘Thambi’ in Tamil) on December 20.  In this interview, catch him talk about the movie, what makes it unique, what to expect from it, his experience of working with Jyothika, Sathyaraj and others, choosing the title and more.  

Life-like movie this is

I was thrilled upon listening to the script.  The emotions between the sister-brother duo, the son-father duo are top-notch.  Like in ‘Oopiri’, this film too has got so many beautiful, life-like moments.  As an actor, it was a highly satisfying experience to do the film.  

‘Naa Peru Shiva’ plus ‘Oopiri’

Jeethu Joseph is an experienced director.  It feels as exciting as ‘Drushyam’.  We are confident that ‘Donga’ will be a big hit.  After ‘Khaidi’, this is the kind of film that was most appropriate.  The background score is outstanding.  The Telugu audience have always warmed up to intelligent movies.  ‘Donga’ is like a combination of ‘Naa Peru Shiva’ and ‘Oopiri’.  

Thrilling climax

As the film progresses, the element of thrill will increasingly go up.  The last 30 minutes of the film will be more exciting than the previous 30 minutes.  

Two years of planning

I don’t do movies just because I have free time. I do it only if the script is special.  The basic line of ‘Donga’ was written by a writer associated with ‘Rang De Basanti’. Director Jeethu Joseph stepped in after the line was developed into a story.  This project fell into place after two years of writing and planning.  

Layered story-telling

Sathyaraj garu’s character is layered and powerful.  Only he could have done it.  ‘Donga’ is a family entertainer with lots of fun and strong emotions.  The kind of thrills that Jeethu Joseph is known for is also there in the movie.

An apt title

‘Donga’ is not a mass title.  It also has a metaphorical meaning; he could be someone who steals hearts.  At the same time, he is a thief for real as well.  I loved the title when it was suggested, as it was a Chiranjeevi sir’s title and also because it’s quite apt.

True-to-life, fun moments

Doing this film was like living with one’s family.  Since ‘Vadina’ garu (Jyothika) knows Tamil very well now, she would give me suggestions regarding dialogues.  The kind of scenes in the movie are slice-of-life and that helped us.  I drew energy from artists like Sathyaraj garu and Sowkar Janaki garu.  The conversations are superb in the movie.  There is a romantic track as well, but it is not run-of-the-mill.  

Working with Jeethu Joseph

Jeethu Joseph has worked with the likes of Kamal Haasan garu, Mohanlal garu and others.  He discusses the scenes that are going to be shot over the course of the day right at the start.  That detailing helps a great deal.  He respects the audience, and takes care of logic.  Every character has a purpose, a graph.  That’s what I like the most about his films.  He keeps improvizing things every day by waking up at 4 am.  We shot for 65 days and not a single day was unnecessary.  Everything was planned and executed efficiently.  

Right sort of dialogues

Hanuman Chowdhary’s dialogues are heart-touching. The translation has been done in a sharp way.  His dialogues for ‘Khaidi’ felt like a straight film’s dialogues.  It has been repeated in ‘Donga’.  

Happy with buzz

The Telugu version’s promotions have been great.  We are living in the era of Amazon and Netflix.  As such, it’s important to create buzz around your movies.