Exclusive! Ramu was hopeful that Arjun Gowda would be a bigger hit than Lock Up Death: Prajwal Devaraj

Filmmaker Ramu was very close to the Devaraj family – the former had produced about 11 of the latter’s films and was continuing that with the next generation too, by making three with Prajwal Devaraj, the last of which, Arjun Gowda, comes to theatres months after Ramu’s unfortunate passing. The veteran filmmaker succumbed to Covid-related complications earlier this year. The team of the film, though, has been rallying behind the late filmmaker’s wife, veteran actress Malashree, to ensure that Arjun Gowda gets the release it deserves, and, more importantly in the way Ramu envisioned it.

In fact, at the trailer launch last evening, the who’s who of Sandalwood who have had a personal or professional equation with Ramu, came forward to offer their unconditional support to Malashree and her children to not only see Arjun Gowda through to its date with audiences, but also in keeping the banner, Ramu Films, going strong. While the event was emotionally-charged because of the goodwill the late Ramu had accumulated over the years, for Prajwal, the film will forever remain special.

“I have known Ramu since childhood, a relationship that only grew stronger when I began working with him. Arjun Gowda is my third film with the banner, a project that Ramu was hopeful would be the biggest hit for him since Lock Up Death. He was emotionally attached to the film and was with director Shankar right from the beginning when the script was still in development. The story revolves around my character, who is the son of a news media baron. There’s a mother-son conflict, wherein he is all about things being in black and white with no grey areas, whereas she believes that you cannot be like that and have to be more accommodating. Amid all this, there’s an intense love story too, wherein he goes to extremes for the girl,” explains Prajwal.

The actor adds that the story also has a pertinent message for society. “In our country, there are elements/people, who are working against it, which we have incorporated in the story, against the backdrop of shootouts. When it comes to incidents like these, there is never an answer as to who instigated it and why it happened. Arjun Gowda is about a guy who finds out who is instigating the youth to behave in such unpatriotic fashion and that leads to an explosive finale,” says Prajwal, who has three shades in the film, in keeping with the commercial content of the film. After Arjun Gowda, the actor has two other films lined up, Veeram and Abbara, while he is currently working on Mafia with director Lohith.

Arjun Gowda releases in theatres on December 31.