The warning, ‘beware of the dog’ doesn’t hold true if your co-star happens to be a Belgian shepherd.
Ask Tamil actor Sibiraj, who is back on screen after four years with Naigal Jagirthai.
Sibiraj, who grew up around dogs, was unprepared when Idoh, an army-trained canine playing the lead in the film, bit him on the very first day of his shoot.
Obviously Sibiraj could not back out, being both the producer and actor in this investigative thriller.
And he could do little to ward off twelve more bites from Idoh by the time the dog tale was complete.
There was also the tough terrain of the jungles of Palakkad, where the film was shot, with snakes for company and the threat of a man-eating tiger on the prowl.
“We had put up a post on [Facebook] and Twitter and soon came to know about Masood of ‘Stealth Paws,’ Bangalore. He trains dogs for the Indian army,” revealed Sibiraj, who plays a police officer in the film.
Idoh belongs to Masood’s team.
Being a trained dog, Idoh merely followed orders every time the director said, ‘Action.’
What preparations did Sibiraj go through for playing a police officer?
“The role did not call for any six-pack or special training,” he said. “This cop befriends a dog and together they solve a crime,” said Sibiraj, who has four dogs at home including a stray, Lassi, that was rescued from a collapsed building and brought home.
Kannada actress Arundhati is paired opposite him.
Without revealing much, Arundhati said her character was significant and the challenge lay in portraying a gamut of emotions and performing tough action scenes.
This is director Shakti S. Rajan’s second venture after Naanayam. “Naigal Jagirthai is the kind of film I had yearned to watch during my childhood days but never got to see. Like those Hollywood films, say, [1989 Tom Hanks film] Turner and Hooch, which carry a childish wonder,” said the director, formerly an assistant of director Venkat Prabhu.
Produced by Nathambal Films Factory, Naigal Jagirthai has music scored by Dharan Kumar. Nizar Shafi is the cinematographer.
