You got chances to director both Nagarjuna’s films (Nenunnanu & Boss) when you were in a bad phase. How do you feel about it?
Nagarjuna never considers the recent success and failure history of any of his technicians. He trusts the technicians on their individual merits and do a film for them if he likes the story. He introduced many new and relatively new directors in his career spanning 20 years. Another instance why he trusts his instincts and judgment is that he offered me another film in the same combination even before the release of Nenunnanu. He told me that he would do another film after watching Nenunnanu film in editing room. It is a great quality of Nagarjuna to stick to his word in this competitive arena. He gave me this project and shown his confidence on me though I did not have big market as a director. In the audio function of Boss, Nagarjuna said that Boss film will be a successful one and he thanked technicians in advance. I will be very grateful to Nagarjuna and Siva Prasad Reddy for giving me the opportunity to direct Boss film.

Tell us about Boss film?
Coming to Boss film, Nagarjuna wanted to do a film that is different from the films he has done after Nenunnanu. He did Mass (mass film), Super (stylish film) and Sri Ramadasu (devotional film). It was Nagarjuna who decided the genre of this film. Nagarjuna plays boss. Nayana Tara and Poonam Bajwa play secretaries. Nagarjuna has good mass following and excellent family following. So the film would catered to both these segments as Boss will have right mix of mass and family orientation. There is good comedy, sentiment and emotions. There will be something for everybody in the film. If one person sits on story, it goes into one direction. But Boss story came out so well that it caters to everybody because it is a result of team work by Nagarjuna, D Siva Prasad Reddy and me.

Boss will project me as a different director. Boss will create a new image for me. I would be indebted throughout my life to Nagarjuna and D Siva Prasad Reddy for making it happen. I am waiting to watch Boss film in Vijayawada on the morning of 27th September along with innumerable fans of Nagarjuna.

Why do you watch morning shows of your films in Vijayawada?
I watched mornings shows of my films (as director and assistant director) in main theater of Vijayawada. It gives me a nostalgic feel as did my graduation in Siddhardha College in Vijayawada.

What are the highlights of Boss?

1. Nagarjuna: First highlight of the film is Nagarjuna. The characterization of his character is excellent. The entire story follows his characterization. Films with good stories do well. If you have good characterizations added to good stories, the success range will go beyond imagination. Nagarjuna perfectly suited the Boss role.

2. Nayana Tara: Nayana Tara’s character is ubiquitous like that of Nagarjuna. There will lot of reaction based characterization to Nayana Tara. It is extremely important to select a heroine who matches the charm of Nagarjuna and shares good on-screen chemistry. Nayana Tara is just what we were looking for.

3. Music: Music is already superhit.

4. Photography: Cinematographer Siva Kumar understands me very well and he knows what I want. He captured the story on the screen just the way I wanted to present it. The output is too good.

5. Editing: Marthand K Venkatesh has done a special kind of editing in this film. There is so much smoothness in his editing. The entire first half looks like one scene and entire second half looks like second scene. It is extremely difficult to get such smoothness. Editing of the film is going to be topic to be discussed after film’s release.

6. Fights: There are three fights in the film. You saw terrific fights of Nagarjuna in films like Shiva and Ninne Pelladatha in the past. There was so much of aggression in those fights. The fights in Boss too are going to be aggressive, at the same time have emotional backup to justify such aggression. People would definitely take fights of Boss as reference point in the next ten years.

7. Art work: You will find the look of Yash Chopra kind of films in Boss. Nagarjuna casually asked Anand Sai why Telugu films does not have the grandeur of Hindi films though we spend equal budget. That question fueled the imagination of Anand Sai and he came up with art work that has grandeur. And that grandeur and outlook matched the story and theme of the film.

8. Dialogues: Each dialogue will have a punch. Dialogues are very natural and does not look forced at all.

I always wanted to read ‘it is a well made film’ line in Jeevi Review for my films. I think Boss is going to get me that line in Jeevi Review.

You said that fights in this film are going to be talked about lot? But you have done all soft films in the past?
Script is the most important factor of Boss. And fights are inserted in the screenplay only when they are absolutely required. Fight without emotion will not make any impact. For example, the fight during Venu Madhava song in Nenunnanu was appreciated a lot because that fight had the emotional backup in the form of Shriya singing Venu Madha song to fulfill her dream.

Let me give the example of Sreeram film. I would tell you why it flopped. The entire film runs on single thread that starts with an incident of hero fighting with villain in a beach. That incident triggers the story and entire film runs as a duel between hero and villain. I realized after the release that the incident that triggered the story is weak.

What kind of film this Boss is going to be? Santosham, Manmadhudu or Nenunnanu?
The family drama from Santosham, characterization and entertainment from Manmadhudu, dynamic orientation of Nenunnanu are going to be there in Boss film. At the same time there is style that attracts the youth. Boss is going to be youthful presentation of emotional family drama.

I heard that Anoop is doing background music for Boss. Is it official?
Yes. We are giving him credits in title card.

What is the reason for having three music directors (Kalyani Malik, Harry Anand and Anoop) for Boss?
Kalyani Malik scored five excellent songs. We wanted to have some variation and made Harry Anand give two tunes. Anoop did background music for my debut film Manasantha Nuvve. I know him very well he is a very talented musician. It was a collective decision and everybody are happy with it. All three of them contributed to film with their maximum efforts and it helped the output of the film.

Year 2006 has been very kind of Telugu films and this year recorded very healthy success rate so far. Market is also expanding. How Boss is going to contribute it?
I think Boss success is going to be topic of the industry after Boss release. I have done the film and saw the final output. I am sure that Boss will set a new landmark in collections. Good Telugu films never disappointed any buyer or exhibitor in this year.

Nagarjuna delivered continuous blockbusters from Santosham to Sri Ramadasu which is rare feat for a big star of that stature in the current trend of filmmaking. What do you think is Nagarjuna’s secret of success?

1. Judgment: Nagarjuna has terrific judgment. If he likes a film, audiences would also like it. He knows the pulse of moviegoers.

2. Knowledge: His knowledge in various crafts of filmmaking is exceptionally good. Sometimes, he would come up with suggestions and betterments that makes directors feel jealous. I also told him that I have creative jealousy with him.

3. Composure: Nagarjuna is a composed man and he knows how to enjoy life. That composure reflects on his works (films). I personally feel that film is a reflection of your personal character.

4. Good reputation: Nagarjuna maintains very good relations with everybody in film industry. He wishes for success of other actors. He wants films of all actors to do well. At the same time he also selects very good scripts. Naturally, everybody want Nagarjuna to succeed and wish his films to be hits.

5. Budget control: He is also a producer and distributor. His knowledge on budget is terrific. He knows where to spend money and where not to. He won’t compromise if a scene demands it. At the same time he don’t waste money if that scene does not require huge spending. Let me narrate you one incident that happened during Nenunnanu time. We were shooting a scene in music college. There is a pen stand on a table with ten pens in it. Nagarjuna picked one pen from it and asked me if we bought that pen for film or it is lent from home. I told him that the unit might have bought that pen. Then he said that it is a German pen and it costs 5,000 rupees. If we are not going to show a close up on that pen, it is not needed to buy such expensive props. It was a big eye opener for me. It changed my way of looking at artwork and props in films.

How many days did you take to shoot for Boss?
We planned for September released when we finalized the project in March. And we are dot on time. Boss is releasing on 27th September. This is possible due to meticulous planning by the producer and a co-operating hero.

Tell us about Nagarjuna as you observed him in close quarters?
Generally we start finding weaknesses of the celebrities when you get to know them personally. But when you get to know Nagarjuna personally, your love and admiration would multiple. He is a gentleman. He is a gem of person. He is 24 carat gold because he holds very good command on 24 crafts of filmmaking.

Tell us about producer D Siva Prasad Reddy?
Nagarjuna has crores of fans all over India and abroad. And D Siva Prasad Reddy is the number one fan of Nagarjuna. He won’t let heroism go down even by an inch in any of the films he produced. D Siva Prasad knows the nakshtram in which Nagarjuna was born. But D Siva Prasad Reddy does not know his own Nakshatram. If we have D Siva Prasad Reddy producing a film with Nagarjuna, it would be very comfortable for the director as producer would be more than willing to contribute his might to make sure that film is grand. Being the number one fan of Nagarjuna, producer D Siva Prasad Reddy is making sure that Boss is an eye feast to fans. I am also a very close friend of Nagarjuna’s fans Ramaraju and Sarveswara Rao. Fans of Nagarjuna are also as gentle and genuine as Nagarjuna.

Click here for a complete interview of VN Aditya (after Manasantha Nuvve film)

Other Interviews
Nagarjuna (Actor)
Sunil (Actor)
Sharrath Marar (Producer)
Ram Gopal Varma (Director)
K Satish (Director)
Siva Nageswara Rao (Director)
Ajay Varma (Hero)
Kamalinee Kukherjee (Heroine)
Neelakanta (Director)
Sandhya (Heroine)
Sriya Reddy (Heroine)
Muruga Doss (Director)
Uday Kiran (Hero)
T Gopichand (Hero)
Kalyan Ram Nandamuri (Hero)
Lawrence (Director)
Siva Kumar (Director)
Venkat Kuchipudi (Director)
Rasool Ellore (Cinematographer & Director)
Raju Sundaram (Choreographer)
SS Rajamouli (Director)
Sameer Reddy (Cinematographer)
Marthand K Venkatesh (Editor)
Sayaji Shinde (Villain)
Shashank (Hero)
Gangaraju Gunnam (Producer)
Meghana Naidu (Heroine)
Venkatesh (Hero)