Once a sought-after director, Sreenu Vaitla’s fortunes have dwindled in the last decade, with most of his films ending up as clunkers at the ticket counters. His inability to adapt to the changing tastes of the audience is cited as one of the major reasons for his downfall. While he tried to stage a comeback with films like Amar Akbar Anthony and Viswam, the fact that these films too followed a template similar to his smash hits in the past meant that box office success continued to elude him.
Vaitla, however, wants to get back to winning ways and be the force that he was. According to sources, he has found a producer in the in-form Mythri Movie Makers once again – after Amar Akbar Anthony. This time around, the director just wants to concentrate on directing alone.
With his stories criticized for being dated and run-of-the-mill, the director has handed over the writing duties to Nandu Savirigana whose resume includes writing dialogue for films like Samajavaragamana and Daaku Mahaaraj. Nandu has worked on Vaitla’s last film, Viswam, along with his friend Bhanu Bogavarapu. Although the writer’s duo limited themselves to some comic episodes of Viswam, Vaitla was impressed with their skills. So it comes as no surprise that he has hired the services of Nandu, while Bhanu is busy directing his maiden film Mass Jathara. “Nandu has written a new-age comedy with a unique backdrop and Vaitla fell in love with it. Besides significant humour quotient which has been the mainstay of most of Vaitla’s films, this script has family elements as well, making it a wholesome entertainer. Vaitla believes there’s no way he can go wrong with this script,” a source close to the development told us.
The source adds, “Vaitla has started pitching it to actors. With Mythri backing it, a familiar name should headline it. The plan is to take the film to floors by the end of this summer or early monsoon.”
