Flirt might sound like a light film, but it takes a serious turn. Likewise, what sparked Chandan Kumar, the actor, to become a director? "The shift began with waiting for a good script. Coming from serials and then transitioning to the big screen with Prema Baraha under Arjun Sarja, I thought better scripts would follow. They didn’t. I realised I had to write my own.”
So what defines a good script for him? “Rich girl and poor boy, parents don’t accept them, some songs, four fights. Same thing with new backdrops. This is what a few producers still expect. Good stories are there, but they usually go to stars. We get filtered stories. Prema Baraha worked because it had quality, but I did not get the right subject later. I didn’t mind doing a serial instead of doing a bad film and even went back to television.”
It is then he wrote a story with a reverse screenplay, based on a subject for today’s generation, which was built on hook points, loops and an engaging track. "This became Flirt,” he says, adding, “Darling Krishna inspired me. Love Mocktail was directed and produced by him, and it was a hit. His approach influenced me, and I took this seriously with Flirt.”
Explaining how he honed his craft, Chandan says, “I watched a lot of Hollywood filmmaking patterns, especially screenplay structure. I studied plot points in detail before writing.” Interestingly, the film has a playful connotation to it despite the seriousness in the narrative, and it wouldn't have been easy to do this tightrope walk. “Does seriousness come before flirting or after? I built it through interconnected scenes. Even the trailer doesn’t reveal who the flirt is. That surprise awaits the ones who come to watch it in theatres.”
Produced under Everest Pictures and distributed by Suprith of KVN, the film stars Chandan himself in the lead, with Nimika Ratnakar, Girish Shivanna, Vinay Gowda, Rangayana Raghu, Shruthi, Sadhu Kokila, Avinash and others. Jassie Gift scores the music, Nakul Abhyankar composes the BGM and Venugopal handles cinematography. Chandan also reveals that he wrote a character specifically for Girish. "He is one of the heroes of Flirt.”
Sharing the genesis of Flirt, Chandan says, "The idea took root in 2019. Many cases happened then, including one involving a producer I knew. I kept thinking, can things turn this serious? They still do.” Another layer in this film is the tussle between romance and bromance, and the actor-filmmaker says, "Intention decides everything. Friends can backstab, lovers can backstab. Everyone has lived some version of this.”
Thanking Sudeep for providing much-needed confidence to his film, and him, Chandan says, "He supported the film, sang a song and even helped in editing. If his presence creates a buzz, that’s good. He is always there for people like us.”
