'2 has no crime, it has innocence and drama'

Director Srinivas Raju, takes the Dandupalya series forward, with his movie titled 2 which will release this week. He has a surprise. The director says that one should not expect crime in this film that is based on the lives of a criminal gang. “In part two, there is pure melodrama. This is an invitation to watch the third and last in the series, and 2 also acts like a bridge between the first and the third movies,” he says.

While he mostly looked for local actors to play different roles in Dandupalya -- and the cast includes Pooja Gandhi, Shruthi, Sanjjannaa, Kari Subbu, Ravi Kale, Danny, Jayadev, Muni and Yathiraju -- the lone outsider is Makarand Deshpande. Of course, everyone knows about the Bollywood actor’s versatility, and that he is an actor who has always aced his performances on screen.

But how did the director think of Makarand for this project? Srinivas explains. “Nobody has actually seen the gang members. After I met the leader of Dandupalya group, I decided I wanted an actor who would be absolutely fresh and not remind the audience of a bigger villain. I was also looking for a person who is lean. Through my friends, I have always  known about Makarand’s potential and also picked him because his appearance could easily place him as leader of the gang.”

Makarand has not met the gang leader and took his cues from the director. “He was keen to know about the behaviour of the gang leader, his posture. We had a long discussion, after which he just got into the skin of the character,” says the director. “I narrated the subject to him once, and that was it. I didn’t have to keep telling or reminding him every day, he is such a good performer. I made the right decision by picking him.” he adds.

Srinivas Raju says that while part one saw the “wilder side of the actor, part two will see Makarand’s innocence”.

Now that the actor has completed the shoot for the series, what was his opinion about being part of this crime trilogy? “With all modesty, I must say that he said it was his career’s best,” says Srinivas. “Doing a trilogy about crime is something he had never expected to do. From the series, he has liked the part 3 the best.”