As Vemal's next, Mahasenha Volume - 1, gears up for release on December 12, the actor has opened up about working with an elephant. In an interview with IANS, the actor revealed that he fed jalebis to the elephant to befriend it and make it cooperate for filming.
"There is a portion in the film in which I had to shoot with this elephant. We shot the elephant portions of this film completely in Kerala. Initially, I was a little scared to act with the elephant because at that time there were news reports that an elephant had crushed two people to death at Tiruchendur in Tamil Nadu," Vemal explained. But his fear vanished when he learnt the trick to win the heart of the pachyderm. "However, it was a well-trained elephant, and the owner and its mahout kept giving me confidence. I was told by the owner and the mahout that the elephant loved jalebis, and therefore, before every shot, I would feed it jalebis to befriend it."
The film, written and directed by Dhinesh Kalaiselvan, is also releasing in Hindi, Telugu, Kannada, and Malayalam. Dhinesh previously made the crime thriller Raakadhan (2023), starring himself, Vamsi Krishna, and Riyaz Khan, among others. Though nothing much is known about the plot of the film, some of the BTS stills suggest that the story may revolve around different time periods.
Previously, the director, in an exclusive conversation with CE, had revealed that the film will be a multi-part project with four volumes, out of which Vemal will only be seen in the first movie. The director called it a hyperlink film with three stories – one village story, one about a group of trekkers from a college, and one involving a mafia team.
Apart from Vemal, the film also features Srushti Dange, Yogi Babu, Mahima Gupta, John Vijay, Kabir Duhan Singh, Alfred Jose, Ilakkiya, and Vijay Siyon in important roles, along with the elephant named Sena.
On the technical front, Mahasenha Volume - 1 has music by A Praveen Kumar and SN Aruna Giri, cinematography by Manas Babhu DR, editing by Nagooran Ramachandran, and action choreography by Ram Kumar. Produced by DR Selvaraju under the Marudham Productions banner.