CHENNAI: Wearing a black t-shirt and a blue denim trouser, it’s Upendra’s unmatchable energy we couldn’t help but take notice of first. The trailer and teasers of his upcoming film, UI have given nothing away about the film yet. However, they look quite offbeat. “But to clarify things, it is not an experimental film. UI is a proper commercial entertainer that will be a simple watch for the audience. There will be nothing convoluted about it,” he says.

The story takes place in 2040 AD and Upendra says that the film deals with a universal topic. “We are all separated by borders. Imagine a borderless world and people of all ethnicity lived peacefully as a community. UI talks about that. If you ask me from where I took an inspiration from, I would say the story lies among us. The story is pretty much like our mind. It travels to the past, present and the future,” he says with a smile. The project also marks his return to direction. “I had to take a break in pursuit of looking for good scripts. This time I had one and I readily donned the director’s hat,” the actor tells us.

Global films have started looking up to the Kannada film industry of late. But according to Upendra, Kannada cinema has been a flag-bearer of good films for a very long time. “Good films are being made everywhere and the audience are smart enough to notice it. We believe we have done a really good movie and the audience will say, Ada poda, I have watched better films. They know how to evaluate and they are smart. So they notice good films irrespective of the language. The audience are far ahead of us. The onus is on us to make good films for them,” remarks the filmmaker-actor.