Raghu Samarth: I always want to see strong women characters

The trailer of Ragini Chandran-starrer Law was released on July 10, and director Raghu Samarth has started the countdown for the film’s release. It will be released on Amazon Prime on July 17. The legal drama is the third project from PRK Productions. It has been created by Puneeth Rajkumar and is jointly produced by Ashwini Puneeth Rajkumar and Govindu.

Raghu, who made his debut with the romcom Smile Please, is now coming up with a woman-centric courtroom drama. “I always want to see women portrayed as strong characters, and I can’t relate to a film in which there is no importance given to the heroine. For me, she is not just meant to come and go, and be part of a few song sequences, like a commodity. Maybe it is because of my childhood, and the influence of the women in my family. I never see them as a weaker section, and always like to show them in powerful roles,” he tells Cinema Express.

According to the director, although Law revolves around crime, it is not a regular courtroom drama. The story makes it unique, showing the heroine fighting for justice in a legal way, and handling it with a lot of intelligence, he adds.

For making the film, Raghu first approached producer Govindu, and through him, he narrated the story to Puneeth Rajkumar and Ashwini Puneeth Rajkumar. “I could see a spark in them, and they could relate to the subject. After that, things fell into place. I am happy to have the film released under the PRK Production banner,” says Raghu.

Talking about signing up Ragini to be the face of Law, he says, “There is always a pre-conceived notion about an established actor, that they can only carry off certain kinds of roles, which is usually not the case with newcomers. I was looking for a girl who can be shown as a victim and as a fighter, a soft-spoken and intelligent person. I had watched Ragini’s short film, Rishabhapriya, and a TV commercial, which she was part of, and I thought she was expressive. Also, the way she responded to the subject when I narrated it to her and to her husband, Prajwal, further confirmed my thoughts about casting her. She has done complete justice to the role.”

Raghu, who is also the writer of Law, spent a lot of time on research for the project, with his preparation involving interacting with retired crime branch officer D K Shivaram and advocate Nagendra, as well as a retired police officer and a doctor. “Today, with people watching world cinema right from the comfort of their desks, I can’t be fooling people with a cock and bull story. A legal drama demanded authenticity, and I made a few changes for cinematic purpose,” says Raghu, adding, “Though Law is not based on any true incident, I can say with all confidence that it acts as a mirror to contemporary crime.”

Ahead of the digital release of his film, the director is feeling the same kind of excitement that he did during a theatrical release. “I am someone who wants to go with the flow. We had not planned for an OTT release. But the pandemic has changed the whole situation. With Law coming up on a streaming platform, I am sure it will have a wider reach,” he says about the film, which has music by Vasuki Vaibhav and cinematography by Sugnaan.

Besides Ragini Chandran, Law also stars Siri Prahalad, Achyuth Kumar, Mukhya Mantri Chandru, Krishna Hebbale, Rajesh Nataranga and Mandya Ramesh.