“I am amused when people say that I am hiding the source of ‘Ek – The Power of One’. Come on, I made it very clear at the very onset that the film is a remake of ‘Athadu’. What’s there to hide”, questions Sangeeth Sivan who has waited for more than a year since the completion of his Nana Patekar-Bobby Deol starrer to make it see the light of the day.
There were murmurs making rounds in the industry circles that the makers were unwilling to reveal the film’s source from down South.
“We have bought the rights of the film and it is in fact an honor to be associated with a great film like ‘Athadu’, says Sangeeth who would be returning to the action genre after around a decade since he made his Bollywood debut with Sunny Deol starrer ‘Zor’.
For starters, ‘Athadu’ (2005) is the name of a Telegu blockbuster which made Mahesh Babu a household name. “Do you know the kind of craze Mahesh Babu became after the film released?†he questions.
“Expect fireworks all around as Nana and Bobby share the frame. Believe me, the kind of chemistry that the two of them have demonstrated on the screen is mind blowing. I am sure lovers of commercial masala entertainers would love the filmâ€, he concludes excitedly.
“I would call this remake as a Mallu perspective of a Punjabi film. When the film’s shooting began, I called it as ‘Die Hard meets DDLJ’ due to it’s raw action merging with a ‘sarson ka khet’ backdrop. Now imagine how a Mallu like me would have presented this unique merge of genres in my own manner”, winks Sangeeth who is a Malayali by birth.
So what are the kind of changes that an audience could expect in ‘Ek-The Power Of One’. After all a good segment of down South has already seen the movie so there has to be something different in his version.
“I have kept the spirit of ‘Athadu’ intact but quite a few scenes have changed”, says Sangeeth in a serious vein, “See, there is always a motivation to do things your own way. It becomes tricky though when you have some great material at your disposal. Why touch something which has worked? Still, I have incorporated some different things in the film which you will realize once you see it. Of course the climax has been entirely changed. So be ready for some surprise elements as well.”
