Govind Singh Bhandari, who has worked as a co-director in some Nepali and South films, made his directorial debut in ‘Ranveer’. Although this film was not successful, his directorial skill was appreciated. He prepared the film in South style and used new action in the action. Therefore, he was seen as a director with potential in action films.
However, he has made his second film ‘Prema’ a love story. Why? He says, ‘Prema’ is the first in terms of writing. I wrote the script of ‘Prema’ and ‘Ranveer’ together. At first I wanted to direct ‘Prema’, but due to time and circumstances, it became ‘Ranveer’. He says that since it is more difficult for him to make a romantic film than an action film, he will not make a love story film for the next three/four years.
Shubeksha Khadka, Srishti Shrestha and Arun Chhetri are in the lead roles in the film which is going to be released from Chaitra 17. Director Bhandari reveals that the film, which will be released in Telugu, Tamil and Hindi dubbed versions OTT, is inspired by real people. He said that he wrote ‘Prema’ after being influenced by the real incident of a girl he met during the journey.
‘I felt that I can move forward by holding on to the real character of the film in the girl. Because, even though he is ordinary, he has the ability to attract others to him,’ says Govind, ‘I wanted to tell a story about that character. There are some events in a person’s life, which can never be forgotten. I also wrote the story of ‘Prema’ influenced by the same incident.’
While writing the script, a picture of the character is drawn in the writer’s mind. However, while writing the story of ‘Prema’, Govinda had already created the character’s hair and body structure in his mind. He was sure that Shubheksha can perform the top role as she has worked in ‘Ranveer’. Shubeksha also agreed to work after reading the script. In the film, she plays the role of a young woman from the Far West.
Govind auditioned many people for the lead male role in the film. However, he could not find the character as he thought. At that time, film editor Krishna Bhandari took Arun Chhetri’s name. Arun was working in the film ‘I Am Twenty One’ at that time. Krishna talked to Arun and sent his picture to Govinda. Looking at the picture, it was as if he found the character he was looking for.
However, since people are different in reality than in pictures, Govinda decided to watch Arun’s work during the shoot. When he went to the shooting, he liked Arun’s work and physical appearance. He then called for an audition and selected Arun. He selected Srishti Shrestha for the other female role. Although it was his first collaboration with Srishti, Bhandari was impressed by her work.
‘Srishti is an artist who pays attention to work. I have never collaborated with a person who works in this way’, says Bhandari, ‘Srishti used to take notes in the workshop during pre-production. She was taking notes while I was speaking. None of us knew what she was writing. As I had seen Srishti’s film before, I felt that it would not be difficult to work.’
