Prajwal Devaraj’s upcoming film ‘Mafia’ got into a bit of a tangle recently when the producers were compelled to bring in a new director to take over. The action-drama was originally meant to be directed by Gurudatha Ganiga (of ‘Ambi Ning Vayassaytho’ fame) who chose to exit the project over certain creative differences with the producer. Soon after, Lohith H of ‘Mummy’ fame was brought in to helm the film and begin the proceedings with a clean slate.
Speaking about the change in control and how the film too evolved because of the same, Prajwal Devaraj says “Although Gurudatha came up with the idea and also wrote the script, Lohith brought in his own perspective and carried out research on the side to change things up considerably. So, in a way, they both have contributed to the script. Also, Lohith has his own ways of thinking and conceiving the film so it has changed accordingly – it’s his first commercial flick, so to speak, and he is kicked up proving himself in this space too. So, it looks exciting now”.
And research proves to be paramount for the film which is about a kind of mafia or a nexus that many aren’t aware of. “Many are aware of the drug mafia or stuff like human trafficking but there are many more that are niche and not commonly known to the public. ‘Mafia’ is about one such lesser-known cliques and I play an inspector who is hellbent on apprehending them. It’s just he, the inspector, has his own ways of doing things and that forms the crux of the story – Lohith has managed to introduce his own elements into the story based on some extensive research,” adds Prajwal.
