"Ravichandran’s Yuddha Kanda influenced me to direct Dasharatha"

Director MS Ramesh’s inspiration to make Dasharatha was one of Ravichandran’s previous films — YuddhaKanda — where he played the role of a lawyer. “Ravichandran was seen as a lawyer in Yuddha Kanda, a film directed by K V Raju. The latter, also being my mentor, influenced me so much that I wanted to watch Ravichandran yet again in a court-room drama as a lawyer. That gave rise to Dasharatha,” the director tells Cinema Express, ahead of the film’s release this week.

The film faced a lot of hurdles, and is finally hitting the theatres this week. However, Ramesh says he has not lost confidence. “One should either try to change the system, or get adjusted to it. And if I want to survive in the industry, I have to go by the latter,” he says.

Ramesh is upset about not getting the right kind of support from the team. “A few artistes and technicians are doing their bit on social media. Otherwise, I am the only one shouting out loud and spreading the word about Dasharatha’s release. I am so busy running around that I don’t have the time to complain,” he adds.

Dasharatha is the 14th movie as an independent director for Ramesh, who has worked as a dialogue writer for 130 films, and brings in a 14-year experience as an associate director. And he is keeping his fingers crossed. “Today, I believe that success should be written in the director’s fate. That’s when producers come looking for you. Unfortunately, I haven’t had a hit for some time now,”  he admits, adding, “Earlier, whether a director had a hit or a flop, work used to be there. Today, all that a producer expects is profit on the investment he has made, and we are considered a part of a project only if we give that assurance. That’s also a reason for the long gap.  There was a time when, along with the director, the entire team would own up the film’s success or failure. However, it is a different scenario now.”

According to Ramesh, his efforts to deviate from his regular formula and attempt new genres misfired. “I got influenced by a few people who thought I should try a different story, and somewhere my judgment went wrong. However, Dasharatha has a mix of my sensibilities as well as a unique plot, and I am confident that Ravichandran in a lawyer’s coat will catch the viewers’ attention,” he says.

The film also includes Sonia Agarwal, Meghashri, Rangayana Raghu and Tabla Nandi, among others, in the cast. Dasharatha’s music is scored by Gurukiran and cinematography is by G S V Seetharam.