The first look of Shero, the upcoming Sunny Leone starrer, was released on Saturday. The Tamil film is written and directed by Sreejith Vijayan.
Produced by Ansari Nextel and Ravi Kiran under the Ikigai Motion Pictures banner, Shero will also be dubbed in Malayalam, Telugu, Kannada, and Hindi.
Speaking to Silverscreen India, director Sreejith says that Shero is a psychological thriller. “Sunny Leone plays a character named Sarah Mike, an Indian-American woman. The film will have a lot of action elements as well,” he adds.
Sreejith notes that he conceived the film in September 2020 and then pitched it to his friend Ansari, who agreed to produce it. “Ansari felt that Shero being a thriller would be relatable to audiences beyond language and cultural barriers. And due to its pan-Indian value, he suggested roping in a well-known artist to play the lead. That’s when we thought of approaching Sunny. We first sent her the story’s synopsis and later got an opportunity to narrate it. She liked the story and the characterization of Sarah Mike, and agreed to be part of the film.”
The team did extensive research as the film deals with some psychological concepts, the filmmaker adds. “It was very important to ensure that the ideas were realistic and logical, so we consulted a few psychiatrists. And our realistic approach was one of the main reasons Sunny agreed to work on this film.”
Sreejith says they also conducted a workshop for around seven days to train Leone for the film. “We provided language, dialect and stunt training for Sunny. She had rehearsed major sequences beforehand and also did action sequences all by herself without opting for a body double.”
Recommended
The film, shot by cinematographer Manoj Kumar Khatoi, went on floors in the Munnar hills near the Kerala-Tamil Nadu border in May 2021. However, the filming was temporarily halted due to the lockdown following the second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic. “While we were waiting to resume filming, we began the post-production work,” says Sreejith, who adds that one of the interesting aspects of the film will be the music composed by M Ghibran.
Shero’s technical crew includes editor V Saajan, production designer Dileep Nath, makeup artist Ranjith Ambady and costume designer Stephy Zaviour. The additional cast of the film will be revealed during the release of the trailer, Sreejith adds.
When the Kerala government granted permission for film shooting in July, the makers of Shero resumed production and the film was wrapped on Thursday.
The film is currently in the final stages of post-production. Sreejith tells us the makers are yet to make a decision on Shero’s release.