EXCLUSIVE: Addinath M Kothare reveals 2 out of 5 ACs on Nayyi Navelli sets were reserved ONLY for him: “My sweat was dripping through the prosthetics; andar se mera body melt ho raha tha!”
Here's the latest update from the Bollywood world:
How has the response to your character in Nayyi Navelli been? It's been amazing so far. I am quite overwhelmed with the response that I am getting for my character. It's a festive family entertainer, which has been aptly rolled out during the festive season. Hence, it's lovely to be in this space right now.
Adding to this, The movie has a Dussehra connection. Is that why the makers decided to rollout it during this festive period? Absolutely. This is also why they fast-tracked the entire shoot. It was a very difficult movie to make due to the VFX, fantasy elements, ensemble cast, songs, etc. Yet, it was a very well-planned and efficiently executed project. We started shooting in April, and here we are. So, it's amazing!
Meanwhile, It's a passionately made movie. The kind of detailing that has gone into it and the efforts taken by the team deserve special mention. Ravi Srivastava, who has worked on films like Slumdog Millionaire (2008) and Lion (2016), handled the production design of our movie. Rishi Punjabi's cinematography is phenomenal. The whole team worked really hard. As for Aanand L Rai sir and Himanshu Sharma, they are master storytellers, as we all know (smiles).
Notably, Horror-comedy has become quite popular now, but you and your family have been pioneers in this genre. Your father, Mahesh Kothare, made the cult movie Zapatlela (1993), followed by Pachhadlela (2004), on which you worked as an assistant director. You also acted in Zapatlela 2 (2013). What are your thoughts on returning to this genre?
As per the latest buzz, (Laughs) Quite honestly, you can't plan or even predict these things. I feel blessed that I got a movie in this genre. I am also fortunate that two of my films are releasing quite close to each other. While Nayyi Navelli is a fantasy centred around mythology, Ramayana is a historical.
In further updates, How was your experience of working with Yami Gautam Dhar? It was amazing. Despite being such a big star, she is very grounded and easy to talk to. She was also extremely helpful.
On top of that, When you begin working on a movie, you are still searching for your character, his body language, etc. Moreover, the movie is set in Meerut, and I had to work a lot on the dialect, as I was the only non-North Indian star on the set! Thankfully, I was somewhat familiar with the accent because of the films we watch. So, it wasn't completely alien to me. Also, in Mumbai, you get to hear the UP accent quite often.
Nevertheless, I had to work a lot on the dialect and other aspects of the character. On my first or second day of the shoot, Yami, Balaji Mohan sir and I were having a conversation. Yami cracked a joke, and I laughed. As I laughed, she stared at me for a moment and shared, "Adi, this is Raja!" At that point, I was still trying to find the character. I knew I was close, but her observation helped push me in the right direction.
Source: Bollywood Hungama