I want a pet dog now; it’s the purest form of love: Kayal Chandran

The first look of Kayal Chandran’s upcoming film, Singha, which explores the relationship between dogs and humans, was released on Friday, coinciding with the announcement of the Supreme Court’s revision of its earlier verdict on stray dogs.Chandran clarifies that the timing is purely coincidental. “It’s been a few months since we finished the shoot. The post-production work is going on. So, it happened coincidentally,” begins the actor. Elaborating on why the film is titled Singha , he says, “There are a lot of films named after the protagonist. Singha is about the bond between the owner and the pet. So, we felt we should have the dog character’s name as the title.

”About SC’s revised ruling on stray dogs... Ask Chandran about the recent ruling from the Supreme Court which revised the earlier ruling concerning stray dogs in the NCR, he says, “As a common man commenting on the Supreme Court’s judgement, the issue here is to resolve the rabies death. So, there should be a proper resolvement from the people who are compassionate about dogs, especially indie dogs. The government can help in each state to resolve it.

I feel it’s going to be difficult for an organisation or government to single-handedly do it. It has to go hand-in-hand.”For Chandran, building a relationship with the dog acting in the film wasn’t easy. He states, “I have OCD. Dogs require a lot of attention, and they show their affection by licking us. Their fur gets all over our clothes. I don’t have a pet at home, so I’m not used to that form of affection. But I can’t show it on my face because it will be evident on the screen.”“The film deals with three different stages of a dog. So, we got three dogs of the same breed and colour and varied ages to feature in the film. I spent about 15-20 days before the shoot with each one to form a bond. Now, I would definitely want to have a pet dog, as it’s the purest form of love,” he adds.Chandran says he puts a lot of thought into picking his projects, which also explains the gap between his films. He says, “I keep getting offers, but they are more or less the same — either horror comedy or adult comedy.

I want to take time, select good scripts and commit to films with a good team and a decent budget. The producer should make a good profit, too.”Ask him why he avoided acting in horror and adult comedies, and he says, “There were at least two dozen such films released over the span of 2-3 years, and you couldn’t really differentiate them from each other. I’d watch those films as a member of the audience, but I didn’t want to be a part of them. The genre didn’t excite me.”

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