Bachchan to lend his voice to orangutan Pappu?

Producer Soundarya Jagdeesh is ready with his next Kannada film, Appu and Pappu. A children's film, it tells the story of Appu who goes to Cambodia in search of his father. He manages to find him, with the help of an orangutan called Pappu. Appu then tries to unite his parents, who had separated due to ego clashes.

"After Mast Maja Maadi, I announced its sequel," Jagdeesh says. "But since that was taking some time, I wanted to start another movie and this time, a children's film. Initially, I wanted to make an offbeat film and had even approached Girish Kasarvalli and Nagabharana in this regard. But then we decided to make a commercial entertainer and zeroed in on this script. This is a first of its kind movie in this industry and we plan to make it in Telugu and Tamil as well."

Jagdeesh's son Snehit plays Appu. The film also stars Rekha, Jennifer Kotwal, Raju Talikote and Madhuri.

"Finding an orangutan was not easy," the producer continues. "We planned to start our search in Malaysia, but were denied entry due to swine flu. Then we went to Indonesia but we didn't get any trained orangs there. We got our Pappu in Cambodia."

Recalling the experience of directing an orangutan, director Anathraju says, "Initially, we were scared to even shake hands with the animal. But later we befriended her with the help of the trainers and were successful in making her act. She has even danced in the movie. Snehit got along well with her. While most of us, including artistes like Rangayana Raghu, were scared of her, Snehit ate, sat and slept next to her without fear."

Komal, who plays an important role in the film, shares some behind the scene information. "I play Paapu's trainer. Pappu was a superstar on the sets. We had to adjust ourselves according to her moods. Pappu is a female so you can imagine her mood swings! We used to bribe her with apples. She would shoot between 9 am and noon, 2 pm and 5 pm. She had her own set of trainers, translators and assistants. She was pampered to the core," he jokes.

He also remembers the swimming lessons he got from lead actor Abbas Ali. "He invited a lot of attention from the girls due to his toned body. The less said about me, the better!"   

Abbas Ali will be doing a Kannada film after 10 years -- his last Kannada release was Shanti Shanti Shanti. "The last time I experienced this kind of warmth from the unit was while shooting for my Tamil film Anandam. I had a good time," he says.

The entire team remembers one incident. "The resort in which we stayed had flags of all countries except India. We told them about our country and had them fly our flag too," says Jagdeesh.

The Appu and Pappu team is now on a mission to convince Amitabh Bachchan to sing for the film. The song will be picturised on the orangutan. "We are talking to Bachchan and he has evinced interest. The song is on love and humanity," says music director Hamsalekha.

Sonu Nigam, Shankar Mahadevan and SaReGaMaPa Little Champs runners up Aishwarya have lent their voices to the film. It will release in May.