Popular writer Deen Raj had worked as a story writer for superhit films such as Preminchukundam Raa, Premante Idhera and Kalisundam Raa, and as a story cum screenplay writer for Prabhas' debut film Eshwar, and as a co-writer for SV Krishna Reddy's Sardukupodaam Randi and YVS Chowdary's Lahiri Lahiri Lahirilo. Deen Raj is making his directorial debut with the soon-to-release patriotic drama, Bharatheeyans.
The film has finally cleared the censor hurdles and is gearing up for its grand theatrical release on July 14. Noted NRI Dr. Shankar Naidu Adusumilli has proudly produced this inspirational movie on his Bharat American Creations banner.
Talking about the hardships Bharatheeyans team had faced during the shooting, Deen Raj has said that the team had braved several difficulties and shot along the China border. We had taken special permission from the Indian government to shoot with drones, carry out live explosions and shoot in deep forests. We even shot amid so much uncertainty when there were landslides due to heavy rains. There were days when the light was poor after 2 pm itself and we had to cancel the shoot. Some of the unit members fell sick as they couldn't adjust with the local food. Some unit members even returned to Hyderabad in whatever vehicle was available when our unit vehicles were damaged during a landslide and tree falling. There was a particular incident when our Hyderabad manager had slapped a local driver who was creating ruckus on set in an inebriated condition. A local rowdy sheeter threatened to stop the shoot.
We had to give him a role in our movie to pacify him and continue the shooting. When we were shooting in the forest, leeches used to suck our blood silently. We then ordered bags of salt from a nearby village and put salt in our shoes and continued the shoot. In Sikkim and Siliguri, deadly insects used to suck blood from our faces. While the director called for "action", our actors were still busy shooing off those insects with their hands.
We chose a valley inbetween two mountains for the climax shoot. We used to start for the location at 3:30 am and hike amid the hills for 3 hours to reach the location. I have vertigo. While traveling to the location, my co-passengers used to tell incidents of cars falling into the deep gorges. A leader should never let people know of his fears. So I used to hold my breath for 6 hours throughout the journey, every single day. But, no matter the endless hardships we had faced, we are proud of the movie we have made eventually.
Bharatheeyans is releasing on July 14, and I am confident that audiences will surely bless us by watching our movie in large numbers. We forgot all our hardships when former Indian Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu and The Kashmir Files director Vivek Agnihotri showered praises on our movie. Even the private screenings we have organised were received with a unanimous applause. Our team cannot forget the appreciation from the ex-servicemen who became emotional after watching Bharatheeyans!!
