In an exclusive still from Karthi’s upcoming flick Kashmora — a combination horror, comedy, action, and period flick — the actor appears as a tyrant and warlord! Holding up his sceptre in a manic victorious pose and with a huge grin on his face, he comes across as a megalomaniac who accepts nothing less than the total destruction of his enemies.
Kashmora, which has been in the making for long, due to its complexity and grandeur, is Karthi’s most anticipated film yet — after his last two successful flicks, Komban and Thozha.
Gokul of Idharkku Thaane Aaasaipattai Balakumara fame directs the movie, which also stars two gorgeous leading ladies — Nayanthara and Sri Divya.
Although everything about the fantasy-action film has been kept under wraps, DC first broke news of Karthi’s three looks and that a segment of the story was a period setup. In an earlier interview, Karthi had said, “The film has a historical set up (period) and a war segment too.”
The Madras star has been attending offline events with a hat covering his clean-shaven head, to surprise and shock audiences.
In order to get an inside account of the movie, we contacted one of the producers — SR Prabhu of Dream Warrior Pictures — who spilled the beans about Kashmora’s making.
“We took seven months to conceptualise 47 different getups, and froze three looks for Karthi. We tried every guise on Karthi, who patiently experimented with each avatar. The period segment was shot with elaborate rich sets, including a huge darbar set (king’s royal court) erected for this purpose in and around Chennai,” Prabhu revealed.
He also disclosed that Nayan would appear as Karthi’s pair during the period setup in a crucial role. “While Karthi’s character is Raj Naik, Nayan is called Rathina Maha Devi,” Prabhu reveals. Apparently, Karthi essays a tyrannical Army General while Nayan will be seen as the queen of a fictitious kingdom.
Though Karthi’s second look is his usual one we see regularly in films, Prabhu was evasive when asked about the actor’s third character. “A ghost?” we ask. He laughs and says, “That’s the suspense factor!”
‘Kashmora’ means ‘deadly spirit’ and some say it refers to an outlandish person. It is definitely not a Tamil title. However, the young producer, though aware that he cannot avail tax exemption from the state government for it, says that the team felt Kashmora was an apt title for the subject — “Even our previous film, Joker, which received critical acclaim, had an English title. But we did not change it, as it suited the political satire script.”
Humour being Gokul’s forte, the movie has plenty of thrills, and is packaged as a fun family entertainer to suit all types of audiences, Prabhu asserts. “Apart from Rajeevan’s sets, Om Prakash’s cinematography and Santhosh Narayanan’s music are the high points of the movie,” says Prakash, yet another producer of Kashmora. It is now set for a Deepavali release.
