It was a desire to do something together for four friends that gave birth to Eminent Movie Makers, the banner that is remaking the Malayalam hit Ustad Hotel in Kannada as Gowdru Hotel. One thing that childhood friends Ramesh Shiva, Satish Reddy A, Satyan SP and Rachan were sure of is that they wanted to make films that were family entertainers and had a strong message for the society.
So, while three of them turned producers, they convinced their friend, Rachan, to act as the leading man in their film.
“Once we had decided to work together, my friends and I were looking for a good script. I had watched Ustad Hotel and was impressed with the script. When my friends watched it as well, we were sure that this would be a good film to make in Kannada. The next step was to cast the leading man. I thought, why not Rachan? Rachan was hesitant about acting initially, but with time, we were able to convince him — I was confident that he was the best man for the job. We then met the producers of the original film and secured the rights. P Kumar was the unanimous choice for director,” says Ramesh. The makers have placed a lot of emphasis on the music of the film, which is why they zeroed-in on composer Yuvan Shankar, who, says Ramesh, was all too happy to come onboard. When it came to figuring out who would essay the grandfather’s role, they could think of no one better than
Prakash Raj. And thus, the team started to come together. “There are several other senior artistes in the film as well, such as Tennis Krishna, Honnavalli Krishna, Sihi Kahi Chandru, Kadipuddi Chandru and Lakshmi Devi. This film is not just about Rachan, Vedhika and Prakash Raj; everyone has given it their best,” says Ramesh, who adds that his next film will also be with Rachan, but the other details will be finalized once they gauge the reaction to Gowdru Hotel. Ramesh signs off by saying that he is confident that his film will be an eye-opener for audiences, due to the unique picturization.