A hero like no other: Ramesh Thamilmani on casting MS Dhoni as prehistoric warrior

Express News Service

CHENNAI: Seeing MS Dhoni as a prehistoric warrior with promises of super powers is wildly fascinating. The motion poster recently released has caught all our imaginations with the first look of the cricketer as a rustic superhero.

Looking rugged with long tresses that will trigger nostalgia in any true blue fan of Mahi, the teaser piques our curiosity about the character Atharva, and the wild primitive world that he inhabits. Guess that was the intention when author Ramesh Thamilmani cast MS Dhoni in the lead role of his fantasy-graphic novel that is a precursor to the film. 

We catch up with the author over a pot of green tea and soon realise that the book created by Virzu Studios, in association with MIDAS Deals Pvt Ltd, is a movie teaser, albeit a coffee-table keepsake too.

In fact, when Ramesh scans the prototype of the book with their soon-to-be-launched phone application, we jump back in surprise as MS Dhoni – in all his warrior finery springs – pops out of the cover akin to a hologram.

We are instantly sold! An architect by profession, the 37 year old tells us that creativity has always been a part of his life when we quiz him about his entry into the world of graphic novels, cinema and even music.

Excerpts:

Tell us how you came upon the concept of Atharva – The Origin.

The concept was born in 2015. It took us nearly seven years to put together this project and thankfully, my investors were patient. I have always been fascinated by the book-to-film concept, which is common in Hollywood but not in India.

Fantasy genre with a superhero based on a series of books is what I wanted to do. This is my dream project and getting MS Dhoni onboard is definitely a dream come true! Honestly, I worked backwards – based on the concept of the film, I created this book. Then, based on the hero, the storyline was created. 

It seems like you are reinventing the storybook…

That’s the plan. Like how in photography, film evolved to digital media – where technology has been used for a creative process. So, why not do that to storybook reading – make it immersive and experiential.

For instance, when you read the Harry Potter book, your visualisation of the story depends on your capability to imagine. If my imagination is lacking, my experience of the book is different from yours! But, what I want to do here is offer you what the author thought when he wrote this book. So, this is the way I have imagined it, I have created the mood.

Hence, though it is a quasi graphic novel – the imagery is not like the typical comic book, it is not frame by frame – the illustrations are like movie scenes. See these illustrations – in the cave there are people living – the backdrop of the scene captured here is not random. This is more than just art; it is actually technology! We did the 3D model to get the nuances of the anatomy right for Atharva. When you draw images, the consistency is not possible but with 3D technology, the illustrations are realistic. 

Why MS Dhoni?

He is a real hero and a leader. This story is about leadership. We did think about casting celebrities from the film industry but Dhoni is the real deal! He is really composed and calm and that really works for the characterisation of our hero, Atharva. The story is all about self realisation – how he finds his super powers. It’s not like the kind of superpowers we see in Spider-Man. Also, he is goal oriented. When he wants to win, he does win!

How was it working with Dhoni on the sets?

Over a day-long shoot, Dhoni gave us numerous poses, expressions to create the template for the anatomy of Atharva and I have to say, he has great screen presence. He is really a natural. We have about 50-60 images of his silhouette to get one pose right. He really surprised us by being really forthcoming and enthusiastic with demands of getting the 3D template finalised on the green mat.

Right from striking the right pose to giving us great expressions and grimaces, he was totally invested in this project. In fact, he showed keen interest in the visualisation process and gave us inputs about details like the length and texture of his hair and addition like beads… Like I said, his composure and his calm focus makes him a delight to work with! He is a great actor.

(The graphic novel will be available on e-commerce sites soon)