The idea of making ‘Maha Samudram’ has been floating around for years even before ‘Rs 100’ was directed Ajay Bhupathi. He actually had star Samantha Ruth Prabhu in mind for the role ‘Maha’ when he actually conceptualised the script.
“I imagined Samantha for the female character in the movie. But it didn’t materialise for some reasons. It’s a story set in the backdrop of Vizag port city. It’s a story of two friends exploring two different paths in their lives. Casting two lead actors who have a good understanding on and off was very important. I am fortunate that I got two amazing faces Siddharth and Sharwanand. Based on their body language, I had to slightly change their dialogues,” says the ‘RX 100’ director.
Starring Jagapathi Babu and Rao Ramesh in negative shades, ‘Maha Samudram’ features Tamil actor Saranya Ponvannan in a key role while Anu Emmanuel plays the second female character Smitha in the movie.
Director Ajay believes that stories that have strong female characters have good depth.
“We have seen it in ‘RX 100’ and ‘Maha Samudram’ largely speaks the importance of friendship whether it is the bonding between Sharwa and Siddharth or the relationship between Rao Ramesh and Jagapathi Babu.. characters don’t end up abruptly. Characters were drawn from my observations in real life. Take Rao Ramesh for example. Biting his own hand – a mannerism that I observed in one of my relatives,” the director says.
Ajay Bhupathi had let go of many offers that came his way soon after ‘RX 100’.
“One was an anthology for Netflix. But I want to work in the Telugu film industry. I am happy that ‘RX 100’ is being remade in Hindi. Another lot of talented youngster, who worked with ‘Maha Samudram’, is to become good filmmakers soon,” says Bhupathi whose upcoming movie is likely to be a mass entertainer.