Art director Thotta Tharani plays Swami Chinmayananda in his biopic

Ace art director and national award winning production designer Thotta Tharani is essaying the role of Swami Chinmayananda in an English documentary film titled The Quest. Swami Chinmayananda one of the tallest spiritual leaders of modern times and is the founder of Chinmaya Mission, a renowned non profit organization which spread the philosophical values of Vedas. The film is directed by RS Prasanna of Kalyana Samayal Saadham fame and is currently in its post-production stage.

“When you do a biopic of a character that has lived in the recent memory, it’s difficult to find someone who can act as well as physically resemble that person. When we were discussing this with my team, my costume designer Preethi, who worked as an assistant to Thota Tharani, suggested his name. She told us he looks exactly like Chinmayananda. Two days later, I was at his office and he agreed to do the film without any remuneration. He said he’s only doing it because it’s for a spiritual purpose,” says Prasanna. The film is slated for release in August.