Kannada superstar Shiva Rajkumar is starring in a remake after nearly a decade and a half, and it has his fans and critics intrigued on what made him decide to do it. In a recent interview to the Times of India, the star spoke about starring in Kavacha, which is the remake of the hit Malayalam movie Oppam.

When asked about it, Shiva Rajkumar said that though he preferred original scripts, he has never been averse to remakes. The star added that about 30 – 35% of the script was changed to suit Kannada film audiences and he was okay with it.

On playing a visually challenged man in the film, the actor said, “When you have to act without any glasses, like I did in Kavacha, it becomes quite difficult. You have to be very sharp. In the middle of the scene, you can’t suddenly turn your head towards the person who is speaking; you have to keep your eyeballs straight and not move them while turning your head. I had someone who works at a blind school to help me out with the nuances. I learnt that some visually challenged people have a heightened sense of smell or hearing and that’s how they identify people and things. Their body language changes accordingly, so I had to keep all that in mind.”

Shiva Rajkumar plays the lead role in Kavacha with Kruthika Jayakumar as the lead opposite him. Directed by GVR Vasu, the movie is bankrolled by MVV Sathyanarayanan under the banner Hayagriva Movie Adishtana. The film’s star cast also includes Isha Koppikar, Baby Meenakshi and Vasishta N Simha in pivotal roles. Rahul Shrivastav is cranking the camera for the film and the music is composed by Arjun Janya.

The Malayalam movie Oppam had Mohanlal in the lead supported by Samuthirakani, Anusree, Nedumudi Venu, Vimala Raman and others. The movie was based on a story by Govind Vijayan and was directed by Priyadarshan. The film was a big hit and had won several prestigious awards.

(Content provided by Digital Native)