Vijay Prakash turns music director

Playback singer Vijay Prakash of Jai Ho fame is venturing into music direction with Kannada film Andar Bahar. Vijay will be singing a song in the film too. Sonu Nigam and Shreya Goshal may be roped in.

"Quality music was what I was looking for. I wanted music to enhance my film rather than use it to create hype. Vijay was looking to foray into music direction through a film with a good script and banner. I approached him through common friends and soon things fell into place," says Phaneesh, who is directing the film.

A live orchestra, sophisticated recording studio and qualified mixing engineers have added to the budget, but quality music being the agenda, the producers have been lenient, says Phaneesh.

There are six songs in the film. Kaviraj and Jayanth Kaikini have written the lyrics of three. Shooting will begin on January 15 across Bangalore, KGF, Karwar and Goa.

Shivarajkumar and Parvathi Menon are the lead actors.

It's been 21 years since his death and yet Shankar Nag's legacy lives on. That he is still considered an integral part of the Kannada film industry is proved by the number of films being made on his life or spirit, and many still dedicate their films to him.

But Shankar didn't limit himself to films. He was actively involved in theatre and was a visionary who wanted to give something back to society. Low cost housing, accessible health care and a metro service for Bangalore were his dream projects.

At a time when Shankar's metro dreams have taken wing, a cinema team has decided to pay homage to the actor by making a film on his vision for Bangalore. "A metro service in Bangalore was among his visions. As an actor and person he has influenced many people and our film centres around one such man who wants to fulfill all of Shankar's dreams," says Satya, who plays the lead character in the film.

The untitled film will be called either Metro or Bangalore Metro. Taresh Raj, who directed Gundargovi, will direct this film too. Shankar's brother and actor Ananth Nag will be consulted for the script. Many of Shankar Nath's friends are likely to be roped in to star in the film as well.

Kharavela and Namma Shankar Nag are the other films that are being made on Shankar. The actor's graphic images were shown in the recent super hit movie Saarathi. 

Darshan, who is basking in the success of Saarathi, is one proud brother. The actor who addressed the media recently, showered praise on his brother and director of the film Dinkar for doing a "commendable job".

"I have been visiting various cities to thank my fans for their support and they have all loved the film. I credit a share of the success to my brother's hard work and planning. From Jote Joteyalli and Navagraha to Saarathi, Dinakar has come a long way and I feel proud to call myself his brother," Darshan said.

He said that the success of the film has come as a slap in the face for those who had predicted that it would be a failure.

"Some even accused us brothers of having taken the producer for a ride, but the result is here for all to see. The producer is a happy man today."

Saarathi released when Darshan was in jail for assaulting his wife. It clashed with the Puneet Rajkumar starrer Paramathma,which wasan additional challenge. Nevertheless it went on to do better business than Paramathma.

The response to Saarathi has helped garner good distribution rights for Darshan's forthcoming release Chingari, according to trade pundits.