Wonders unfold during the filming process. Typically, when shooting a death scene, the actor involved often gets up after the initial take and requests a shot capturing a smiling moment.
When integrating a character’s death scene with a song, it requires considerable courage to maintain composure. In the film “Arasayyana Prema Prasanga,” during the shooting of the song “Ayyoyyo Rama Kanmundene Drama,” splendidly sung by Bharathipura Shanker, the director, JVR Deepu, instructed a junior actor to lie on a ‘Chatta’ (a prepared bamboo stick) with two pieces of cotton placed in the actor’s nostrils, creating a traditional atmosphere. The plan was to capture the death scene while featuring Mahantesh in the song “Ayyoyyo Rama Kanmundene Drama.”
To ensure the junior actor in the death scene remained silent for two hours, he was asked to consume one-quarter of whisky. However, the shoot lasted longer than expected, and the feigning junior actor woke up. So, what did the “Arasayyana Prema Prasanga” team do? They provided an additional quarter of whisky to the junior actor, who then resumed his deep slumber. The shooting concluded, but the actor pretending to be dead remained asleep due to the lingering effects of the alcohol.
For this particular death scene and song, director Deepu recruited non-actors from nearby locations to achieve an authentic feel, as per Director Deepu’s explanation.
“Arasayyana Prema Prasanga,” produced by Chartered Accountant Rajesh and featuring his wife Meghashree, is a comedic gem.
