By Narendra Puppala
Bengaluru, Feb 16 (IANS): It was a 'what-if' moment that triggered Kannada movie director Arjun Kumar's second offering 'Family Pack'.
Four years after his acclaimed 'Sankashtakara Ganapati' which dealt with alien hand syndrome, the young filmmaker is ready with his second filmatic offering. This time around, the action revolves around two families and a humane ghost.
"It started with a simple thought that what if a person standing on a four storeyed building, what if he falls down. That was the small idea I had in hand and we started developing it. What if someone saves him, why will he save him. From that we started developing. The whole screen play was developed. After that we called it 'Family Pack' because it was revolving around two families. Thats how the concept was developed," Arjun told IANS.
Apart from the lead played by Likhit, 'Family Pack' has actor 'Rangayana' Raghu in a pivotal role of a friendly ghost. The filmmaker confesses that he has taken liberties with the characterisation of the ghost in 'Family Pack'.
"In ghost movies we generally see ghosts are dressed in a particular manner, which is white only. And their faces are painted and they look really scary. Here I haven't done any if that. It's a very friendly ghost. It appears to help the hero. It slowly gets into situations where it starts to realise about his life It starts to object with the intentions of hero. It's like another human being but without a human form. We have used VFX and we have used a crane where Raghu sits on it and later we have erased it. That's how I've defined ghost in this film."
Even as he recounts the groundwork that went into creating the movie which is all set to premiere on Prime Video on Thursday, Arjun fondly recalls Kannada star, the late Puneet Rajkumar's support for the project.
"As this movie is a comedy drama, we were looking for artists who can deliver comedy as well as emotional punch. So me and Likhit we discussed about the cast and as we know PRK films came in later as the production House and Appu sir was very excited about the story. He asked me about whom I want in the cast. We discussed a lot about the cast. He picked a couple of them. He spoke to a couple of artistes. This kind of conversation happened before the casting everyone. But the idea behind the casting was they have to deliver comedy as well as emotion."
Arjun explains that apart from the fun element, Family Pack' has a lot that people can read between the lines.
"I don't have one particular message. I have several of them which come at different points in the story. The audiences can sense them . I haven't sermonised that a family has to be like this or that because everybody's situation is different. That we need acceptance within the family so that they can live comfortably and there'll be more happiness."
'Family Pack' is a part of Prime Video's recent multi-film announcement with PRK Productions which will be available exclusively for Prime Members worldwide from February 17.
Directed by Arjun Kumar S and produced under the banner of Puneeth Rajkumar's PRK Productions, the 'Family Pack' features actors Rangayana Raghu, Amruta Iyengar and Likith Shetty in the lead.