Chitchat with Bheemaneni Srinivasa Rao

Chitchat with Bheemaneni Srinivasa Rao

29 August, 2012
Hyderabad

Bheemaneni Srinivasa Rao has entered film industry and created ripples as a driector by delivering four back-to-back remake blockbusters. Bheemaneni talks about his come back film Sudigaadu in an exclusive interview to idlebrain.com (interview was done a couple of days before the release of movie).

Gap after Annavaram
I have worked on a direct subject for 2 years. I was to be made in three languages (Telugu, Tamil and Malayalam) on a big banner. But that project was shelved later.

How did Sudigadu happen?
I liked the Tamil film Tamil Padam and opined that it could work in Telugu if we do nativity changes. Only four Tamil names - Mani Ratnam, Shankar, Rajnikant and Kamal Hassan work equally well in Telugu. I have got hold of cliches in Telugu films in the past 82 years and tried to present them in a funny way. And used scenes and characters that are popular in the past 10 years of Telugu cinema in Sudigaadu. I have the ability to do the remakes by adding nativity and without losing soul of the movie.

I had worked over pre-production for 8 months and worked on music for 3 months. I didn’t want to do a 3-4 weeks film which is enough to get profits for Allari Naresh. I want to resurrect my career with Sudigaadu. I want to prove that Bheemaneni Srinivasa Rao still has the hit-making ability like he did when he entered film industry around 15 years back.

It was not an easy task to make Sudigaadu. Though I had confidence on the script, it took me lot of efforts to involve all the technicians. I had to make them believe that they were working for a ground braking and a cult film. Once I have completed major part of the shoot, the technicians started believe in the movie. They slowly realised that Sudigaadu is a film that is going to work and started contributing whole-heartedly to it.

The posters and trailers have created lot of hype. I would also like to give due credit to the poster designer Dhani Aelay and trailer-maker Bhaskar. I had shown entire film to Bhaskar so that he could cut and use the interesting scenes. We have also done a special shoot for posters and trailers. We have done separate dubbing for trailers as well.

Nobody respected Sudigaadu in the beginning, but everybody started talking about it after the trailer is released.

Audiences are frustrated with the cliches they see in regular commercial films. We have banked on those frustration levels by playing satires on cliches. That worked well in the film. But the stars have taken it sportively. Pawan Kalyan, NTR, Rajamouli and Seenu Vytla appreciated the satires.

We have touched all kinds of media. There are spoofs not only on films, but also on TV commercials and never-ending TV serials.

Budget
I shall thank the producer Chandra Sekhar for trusting the script and spending more than what a Allari Naresh film could absorb. Nobody came forward to buy Sudigaadu for the rates that justify the budget. But after audio release where trailer was screened, we had around 5 buyers from each area fighting for the rights. This film’s budget is 8 and half crores if you include prints and publicity. I am sure that the film will make double the profits.

What is the secret of your ‘remaking skill’?
I had worked in the direction department of Editor Mohan for 13 years. Editor Mohan is regarded as a specialist in remakes. I became a director at the age of 25 and delivered four back-to-back remake blockbusters (Subhamastu, Subhakankshalu, Surya Vamsam and Suswagatam). But I didn’t plan my career well after that. I didn’t have experience and maturity at that time to look at bigger picture and committed certain mistakes that made me lag behind in the race. I do really admire directors who are entering film industry now. They plan well ahead and promote themselves well.

Remaking a film is like working with double-edged sword. If you click, they say it’s about copying scene-to-scene from the original. If you fail, they say that this guy doesn’t even know how to copy. But I feel that remaking is a tough job. One has to retain the soul and at the same time make nativity changes. Since, I got success in so many remakes I am branded as a remake director. But I am sure that I have the ability to prove myself as a straight film director.

What is your next film?
I have two scripts with me. But I want to promote Sudigaadu till the last show and then think about my next film.

note: this interview was done before the release of movie.