“Cinema is an art and not a business,” says ‘Vijayanand’ hero Nihal!

  • IndiaGlitz, [Wednesday,November 30 2022]

'Vijayanand' is a biopic based on the life story of businessman Padmasree Vijay Sankeshwar. He is the owner of VRL group, a leading private road transport company for commercial goods and logistics. The film will be released on December 9 in Kannada, Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam and Hindi.

Actor Nihal is playing the lead role in 'Vijayanand' directed by Rishika Sharma. Produced by Anand Sankeshwar of VRL Film Productions, the cinematography is handled by Keerthan Pujari with music by Gopi Sundar. The movie also stars Srilatha Pragalath, Bharat Boppanna, Ananth Nag, Vinaya Prasad, Prakash Belawadi and many others in key roles.

Recently, the film crew met the press at the Nakshatra Hotel in Chennai ahead of the movie's release. The director Rishika Sharma, producer Anand Sankeswar, actors Nihal, Bharat Bopanna, Tamil version's lyricist Madhurakavi, cinematographer Hemanth, and the film's release representative Manoj and many others were present at the event.

The film's director Rishika Sharma said, This is the first biographical film to be prepared in the Kannada film world. All the final stages of the film are going on in Chennai. The work on the film started as a Kannada film. When the shooting took place at Ramoji Rao Film City in Hyderabad, the celebs who visited the shoot said that this movie can be made a Pan-Indian movie in all languages. After that, with the consent of the producer, it was prepared as a film to be released in South Indian languages. After the release of the teaser of 'Vijayanand', the leading distributors and celebrities in Mumbai said that they can release it in Hindi. After the release of the preview of the movie, they told that it can be released in many countries. As a result, the movie 'Vijayanand' is releasing worldwide.

I would like to take this moment to thank businessman Padma Shri Vijay Sankeswar, the real protagonist of this inspiring story. Thanks also to VRL Film Productions producer Anand Sankeshwar for trusting me, an ordinary woman, to create such a magnum opus.

I am a big fan of director Mani Ratnam. It was only after watching the film 'Guru' which was released under his direction, that the idea of directing a biographical film was born. I am not a student of any film training college. I am amazed to realize the many layers that are subtly connected in the screenplay of the movie 'Guru' directed by Mani Ratnam. And I have learned a lot from Indian creators like Mani Ratnam and Puttanna Kanagal. Mani Ratnam's films are the precedent for making this film. This is my second film. I feel blessed to have directed this second film as a challenging piece of autobiography. I would like to thank the technical team including the cinematographer, music director, editor, Tamil version's narrator and lyricist Madhurakavi, actors and actresses for making this movie.

'Vijayanand' is a film that describes the feelings between family members belonging to four generations. Although we have focused on the affection between the senior members who lead the family and their successors, we have emphasized the future dreams of the children and their future plans. This movie teaches the younger generation the need to dream about the future.

His dream, which started with a single vehicle in 1976, has grown to over five thousand goods vehicles and over three thousand passenger vehicles across India today, making him a record holder. His dream has come true. In this regard, what was his reason for choosing this field? When asked, 'I thought it was suitable for me. I started immediately' he replied. This gave me great encouragement. I wanted to let the audience know this.

I have kept 'Vijayanand' in the name of his company 'Vijayanand Road Lines' as the title of the film. 'Victory' means 'Victory' and 'Anandam' means happiness. I am sure that this film will provide mental inspiration and encouragement to the viewers who watch the film.''

Producer Anand Sankeshwar said, We have visited Chennai after Ahmedabad, Lucknow, Indore, Delhi, Kochi and Hyderabad to promote Vijayanand's film. Thank you to everyone for the warm welcome everywhere you went.

When I was one year old, my father Vijay Sankeshwar left the family business and started his business in 1976 as VRL. Currently, we are serving over seven lakh business customers. We handle tens of thousands of tonnes of goods annually, including agricultural and agro-related products, textiles, ready-made garments, pharmaceuticals, footwear and consumer goods. We are operating from Kashmir to Kanyakumari with 1500 branches. We are working with more than 150 branches in Tamil Nadu alone. More than 20 thousand workers are working in our company.

For this movie, director Rishika Sharma and hero Nihal met their father during the corona pandemic. Their talks, which started as a 30-minute meeting, lasted for more than eight hours. My father liked the way they described the screenplay and the ideas for it. After that, we produced this film under the production of our company. I would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who has contributed to the making of this film.

99% of his life events are covered in this movie. One percent is used by the director for creative freedom and design for the film. Especially the song scenes.''

Lyricist and narrator Madhurakavi said, “The story of this film is the great history of the yellow truck. It is not a commercial film like 'KGF'. A film about a real hero. In this land dominated by business and politics, the film aims to present real life and reach the people about the importance of family relationships. I salute this initiative of the director. We worked with satisfaction in all the scenes in the film. The crew gave us complete freedom while working on the Tamil version of this film.

The film has five songs. The songs are not inserted between the scenes, they are placed naturally. Today the common man living in a shophouse has many problems. How to win in life? This movie will be a great example for those who don't know that and have lost their confidence. A story spanning four generations of how one overcomes the foundations of life is prepared. The lives of four generations have been properly recorded in this film. There are many messages in this film for those who want to succeed in life.

Actor Nihal said, “Vijayanand is the second film in which I have acted as the protagonist. I started working as an anchor on a local TV station. I am also a stage actor. I have acted in small roles in TV shows, TV serials and some movies. I made my debut in the film 'Trunk' directed by director Rishika Sharma. We both planned to make a biopic next in 2019. How we came up with the idea of making a biographical film is because of director Mani Ratnam, whom I consider my guru. It was only after watching the movie Guru released under his direction that we had the idea to make a similar work. Guru was the first film I saw when I was in college. It really impressed me. So I immediately agreed to make the biopic of Dr. Padmasree Vijay Sangeswar into a movie.

Vijay Sankeshwar's achievements and all the challenges he faced amazed me. For this, we researched for six months and created the script. We didn't have producers then. After that, we met Vijay Sankeshwar. As soon as we met him, we said, 'We want to make your biography into a film'. He kept quiet for a minute. I am not a famous sportsman either. Not a famous movie star either. Then why do you want to make my biography into a movie?' Then we said, 'All film actors like us are heroes on the screen. But it's people like you who are the real heroes. Your life is a role model that gives hope to millions of young people.'' we replied. After that, the negotiations lasted for nine consecutive hours. After that he also agreed to produce the film.

Although I am not a star actor, due to my faith in the story. Producer Anand Sankeshwar accepted me as the hero of the story. Our crew consists of rising stars and professional artists. He trusted us fully and gave us an opportunity to make the film. Because cinema is an art. Not business. Realizing this, he also gave respect to the art form. I thank him at this moment for this.” said.