Director Abhilash Reddy made his debut with Maa Nanna Superhero, and before that, he directed the web series Loser. Now, he is coming up with Biker, which stars Sharwanand, Rajasekhar, and Malavika Nair in the lead roles. Being made as India’s first motocross adventure film, Biker will release on April 3. The trailer was unveiled recently and has received a positive response.

Abhilash says he wanted to bring authenticity to the film's race scenes. “We shot most of the bike racing scenes in Indonesia, and we roped in original racers from Australia and New Zealand." He adds that this decision also resulted in several accidents on the sets. “We had to take a two-hour break whenever an accident occurred, which is why it took nearly 60 days to shoot only the racing scenes,” he says. He further adds that the film will provide a complete theatrical experience. “We even shot it in Dolby Vision. Everyone who watched the trailer especially spoke about the sound design. This film will definitely offer a great experience in theatres,” says the director.

Abhilash says that bikes hold a special place in the hearts of people like him, who belong to the 1990s generation. “Like many others, bike is an emotion for me too. Along with racing, the film also has strong family emotions. The emotional bond between a father and son will definitely connect with audiences,” he says. The director points out that though India has a history of bike racing, its popularity was overshadowed by the attention given to cricket. “There is a biker racer called Shyam Kothari, but he didn’t become as popular as Kapil Dev. My motto is to bring respect and popularity to bike racing and people like Shyam Kothari. That is another reason why I made Biker,” he shares his commitment towards the sport.

Revealing more details about the film, he says that the story unfolds across two timelines. “In the 1990s, there were two-stroke bikes, which are no longer available now. It took a lot of time to redesign them,” he says, adding further that the lack of recognition for the sport is reflected through Rajasekhar’s character. “We have presented the same point through Rajasekhar’s role in the film. Though this is a fictional story, we took inspiration from some real incidents related to racing."

Detailing the importance of the role played by actor Rajasekhar, who stars as Sharwanand's father, Abhilash says that there are substantial factors in the film that revolve around him. “His character is not like a regular father. There is an entire story that revolves around him. Since he played the role, the emotional impact became even stronger,” says Abhilash, as he recalls that shooting the climax sequence was a steep affair.

“Shooting racing sequences there is extremely expensive. Even the international associations initially said no. But we created our own set there because this story needed such a location." The director also praised Sharwanand’s physical transformation for the role. “There are three phases of him in the film. He lost nearly 23 kilos. Right from narrating the story, we had decided that the character should look a certain way. Sharwanand took nearly six months off and prepared both physically and mentally for the role,” he states.

Speaking about the overall impact of the film, he says it will provide audiences with a good feeling when they walk out of the theatres. “Because of the belief and support of Sharwanand, Rajasekhar, and the producers, this film has turned out wonderfully,” says a grateful Abhilash. Abhilash sincerely believes that sports drama requires a strong backing from music. “There are two kinds of background scores, one for the overall film and the other for the sporting event. The sound design is extremely important. Only when this is executed well will you be able to actually feel the race while a bike is speeding. Ghibran has given extraordinary music. The last 40 minutes of the film will have an outstanding background score. Audiences will experience a very new kind of sound,” he says.

He concedes that his flawed writing was the reason for the misfire of his debut film, Maa Nanna Superhero. “Somewhere it misfired, and maybe there was a fault in my writing. I made an honest attempt, but it didn’t work at the box office, ” he says, to conclude that the father-son dynamics in the film will have an overarching effect on the film, and that it is largely because he has derived those scenes from his real-life experience. “I come from a middle-class family, and I know the father-son bond and relationship. My father always encouraged me, even when I wanted to enter films. We were not financially strong, but my father put everything into supporting me and encouraged me when I shared my wish to enter the industry,” he signs off.