Dinakar Thoogudeepa on casting Chaya Singh in Royal: ‘I did not want an actor who does mother characters regularly’

In Dinakar Thoogudeepa’s upcoming film Royal, although Viraat is the leading man and the story revolves around him, a character that is just as important is that of the mother. Chaya Singh, who was most recently seen in Bhairathi Ranagal plays the mother, Seetha, a casting decision Dinakar is glad went ahead without a hitch.

Also read: Royal’s Chaya Singh: Dinakar is a very demanding director and calls it wraps only when he is 100% satisfied 

When the filmmaker began looking for artistes for the role, he was sure he did not want an actress who is known to regularly play mother characters. “I wanted an actress who has not done a role like this and yet is able to convey important messages in the film effectively. When Chaya ma’am’s name came up, producer Jayanna was also thrilled, as she’d worked in his film Mufti earlier,” says Dinakar.

Dinakar Thoogudeepa did not think Chaya Singh would agree to do Royal so easily

The director and his team approached the actress and gave her a narration, at the end of which she was okay to be onboarded. This was not the response Dinakar was expecting, as he thought that she would send him back with a promise to revert later and then say that she isn’t interested. “Chaya ma’am is still so glamorous and can play heroine, so I was not sure if she’d be okay to play mother to the hero, but she agreed and has done justice to the role,” he says.

Chaya’s performance make for some of the film’s standout moments, says Dinakar, adding that even with a power-house actor like Achyuth Kumar in the frame with her, she has outshone him. “She was so fabulous that I often forgot to call ‘cut’ on the scene. I was so mesmerized by her performance that I just kept staring at the monitor,” he adds.

Also read: Dinakar Thoogudeepa: ‘Royal is a commercial entertainer that revolves around a mother-son bond’ | Exclusive 

Royal, which also stars Sanjana Anand and Raghu Mukherjee in pivotal roles, will release in theatres on January 24. It will be in competition with Rishi’s Rudhra Garuda Purana and the multi-starrer Foerst, which has Aniish, Gurunandan, Chikkanna, Rangayana Raghu and Archana Kottige, among others, on board.