A bunch of oddball characters caught in unlikely situations and a promise of rollercoaster ride. The promos of Keedaa Cola, the Telugu caper comedy directed by Tharun Bhascker, which releases on November 3, have raised anticipation for a laugh riot. The film has an ensemble cast — Brahmanandam as thatha (grandfather), Tharun as local don, Naidu, Rag Mayur as the lawyer Lancham, Raghu Ram as Shots, Chaitanya Rao Madadi as Brahmanandam’s grandson, Vaasthu, Jeevan Kumar as Jeevan who nurtures political dreams, Vishnu Oi as Jeevan’s sidekick Sikandar and Ravindra Vijay as the ruthless CEO. Add to this is a character that drives the plot forward without speaking —  the doll, Barbee. 

Some of the actors discuss their Keedaa Cola experience. 

Chaitanya Rao Madadi 

Keedaa Cola is Chaitanya’s biggest acid test, yet. The actor who gained popularity with the mini series 30 Weds 21 and the period comedy film Annapurna Photo Studio, plays a character with Tourette syndrome. His world revolves around his grandfather and his friend, Lancham.

“I took two to three days to research and prepare for the audition,” Chaitanya recalls. The brief was not to make the stutter seem like an exaggeration or a mockery. He looked up videos of people who have this condition, watched Hollywood films and discussed with Tharun to determine how much stutter is too much. “I learnt that Billie Eilish has this condition. In the film, Vaasthu does not speak much and we understand that he has been bullied in childhood.”

Working closely with Brahmanandam, he noticed how the veteran actor came up with varied expressions and dialogue delivery. “Tharun said he wanted subtle comedy and Brahmanandam sir gave a few variations. It was a learning experience to notice how swiftly he adapted to the requirement.”

Chaitanya has a bunch of other films coming up in diverse genres and hopes Keedaa Cola will make him a household name. Acting had been his childhood dream but he pursued an MBA programme and worked in Australia for a few months to put aside money before taking the leap of faith. 

The pandemic was a rough phase, “OTTs were open to newer actors provided they had a YouTube or social media following. I did not score on that front and thought that was the end of the road. Then, 30 Weds 21 happened and things began to work in my favour.”

Vishnu Oi

Vishnu, known by his screen name Vishnu Oi rather than his real name Vishnu Mohan, has known Tharun Bhascker since the director’s short film days. Being offscreen friends did not translate into an opportunity being handed over on a platter. He had to audition for the part of Sikandar, a sidekick to Jeevan Kumar and Naidu (Tharun). “Tharun always hands out a bound script to his actors and I read the script before I auditioned. We have never taken our collaboration for granted,” says Vishnu, who can make the audiences laugh with his deadpan dialogue delivery. His work was recently appreciated in MAD.

“I often get offered comic parts,” he admits, and adds that he chooses the best of what he gets. Comedy comes naturally to him. Since childhood, whenever he messed up a situation, he would narrate it to his friends in a jovial manner and make everyone laugh. He narrates how he decided to put his best self forward for a promotional event of Keedaa Cola and dressed up in a new khaki shirt. Enroute to the event, he realised that his shirt was not too different from what the autorickshaw drivers wore. “I mean no offense to them, but I laughed at how I thought I had dressed and what it turned out to be.”

He describes his character, Sikandar, as the weirdest guy among several other oddball characters in the film. “He is innocent, loyal to Jeevan and Naidu and gets easily diverted during a conversation.”

Rag Mayur

Rag Mayur, who was noticed as the aspiring actor Maridesh Babu in the indie film Cinema Bandi, plays Lancham, an unsuccessful lawyer who desperately wants to make money and looks for short cuts. He terms Keedaa Cola a dream come true since he had narrowly missed the opportunity to work with Tharun earlier. However, he collaborated with the director for two ad films and that in turn paved the way for his audition of Lancham. 

Once he read the script, he was asked to enact a scene from the film and also write and enact a hypothetical scenario. “It was a fun, learning exercise,” says Mayur.

The film taught him the importance of not going to the sets over-prepared and allowing room for modifications on the spot. “Since my character delivers a lot of laughs in the courtroom I had over-prepared. A lawyer who was consulted for the film told us the dos and don’ts and how the decorum of the court needs to be maintained. So I had to tone things down and still bring the house down.”

Jeevan Kumar

When Jeevan Kumar gets talking about how his debut in Ee Nagaraniki Emaindi and his introduction to Tharun and his mother Geetha Bhascker turned out to be life changing, those who are unfamiliar might think he is indulging in hyperbole. But it comes from a place of earnestness and Jeevan explains how he learnt to be more polite, think positive and shrug away annoying comments thanks to the influence of Tharun and his team. During the pandemic, he did his bit to offer relief material and facilitate medical help to those who needed it. 

“All of us in the team share our joys, sorrows and have grown with each other,” he says. In the film, he is at loggerheads with a corporator and looks towards Naidu for help. His character trait of flaunting gold chains came from reality, he explains. “There is someone in my neighbourhood who I would prefer not to name. He would wear thick gold chains and I would also do the same, in fact wear more than him.” 

Having worked in several films in the last five years, Jeevan says he values every opportunity that comes his way, even if it warrants five to 10-minute screen time. The humour in Keedaa Cola, he says, will be a step up.

Ravindra Vijay

Simply referred to as the CEO, Ravindra Vijay plays a cold, calculating businessman. “As with most comic caper movies with an ensemble cast, all characters have some zaniness about them for the comedy to work. The CEO wants to retain his position and he is challenged under certain circumstances.” 

The actor who has worked in a plethora of Tamil and Telugu movies, web series such as The Family Man and recently appeared in a brief part in Jawan, says he had expressed his interest to work with Tharun sometime after Ee Nagaraniki Emaindi. “One fine day Tharun called, came home and narrated and gave me this script. I read it on a flight and had to contain myself from repeatedly laughing out loud. It was hilarious.”

Reading sessions followed and on the sets, he savoured the bonding with co-stars and the technical team. “For some time, I thought something was terribly wrong since movie making has never been such a happy process. I have rarely seen such an energetic bunch of friends who are jamming, hanging out and making a fun film in the process. Each one has a sense of ownership towards the film, which is remarkable.”

Ravindra will soon be seen in the Telugu film Mangalavaram and the web series Dhootha among a few other web series and films in different languages.