The ‘Aptha Mithra’ Kannada film snatched actress Soundarya after the shoot in the helicopter crash but the Nagavalli of ‘Aptha Mithra’ Soundarya is still afresh in the minds of everyone.
The case of the ‘Aptha Rakshaka’ that has the story line of another case of Nagavalli split personality is also astonishing and accident filled during the shooting.
Firstly Dr Vishnuvardhana fell down from the horse ride at Bangalore Palace and he narrowly escaped death. Dr Vishnu himself said I preferred that particular horse riding shot and action director Ram Shetty who bought 100 horses for this film picked one for me to ride it. I studied the horse a bit and my sixth sense was telling something else. Still I went up and locked both the legs and pulled it. It went smoothly and I did not want the full speed of it. But to my surprise the horse went ahead of the speed I thought and one point of time it lifted both the front legs and made me to fall on the floor Dr Vishnu recalled.
God’s grace the fall did not hurt my backbone but there was severe injury that almost looked half moon curve in the scanning. It took a few weeks for me to recoup. Dr Vishnu remembering another incident of a wrong medicine injected creating problem to one of his legs some years ago.
Had the fall been severe It would have ‘Aptha Rakshaka – Incomplete’ Dr Vishnu’s 200th film would have appeared in the print and elsewhere Dr Vishnu laughed.
The most horrible experience of this film is also for Vimala Raman the actress who is another case of split personality ala Nagavalli. After first day of shoot Vimala Raman was sleeping in her hotel room and around 12.30 in the night she experienced a shadow and got frightened. Around 2.30 early in the morning she experienced an object sleeping next to her. She ran for help and next day morning running temperature. She was advised 10 days rest.
Director P Vasu had seen hundreds of girl when ‘Chandramukhi’ was released going in for this costume of ‘Nagavalli’ in dance programs. Four cases of patients with problems of split personality he traced from doctors in Chennai complaining the Nagavalli song is the only reaction point.
It is not just all these astonishments and accidents. Ramesh Bhat the veteran acting in this film fell ill for three days with fever. Avinash the key actor of this film and one of the two common factors in ‘Aptha Mithra’ and ‘Aptha Rakshaka’ could not dub for his portion properly. He struggled for three days to dub Dr Vishnu recalled.
Dr Vishnuvardhana had gone somewhat deep into such believes. He quoted the 1990 experience of ‘Suprabhatha’ Prabha encountering a rare experience in USA when she had expressed talking to her dead aunt.
Manohar. R.(Manu),
chitrataramanu@gmail.com
Photo Journalist
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