Director Jayendra is returning to Telugu cinema after seven years (Siddharth and Priya Anand starrer 180 in 2011) and this time, his film starring Kalyan Ram and Tamannaah Bhatia is raising eyebrows. The trailers and teasers piqued curiosity and have been a big hit. The movie titled Naa... Nuvve is slated to release soon. In a brief chat with Metro Plus , director Jayendra talks about the simplicity in the romance and is glad that he has arrived at balance of a feel-good look and curiosity in the trailer. “Some people said they are looking forward to seeing the film because it has a mass hero in a class film. It has a story element that will appeal to everyone. Good visuals alone will not work, it has to be backed by a good story. I have two more scripts; I might choose one of it as my next movie,” he says.
Working with PC Sreeram
The director has roped in PC Sreeram as a cinematographer for this film; they has worked together for a classical film Margazhi Raagam (Tamil) too. “Sreeram and I ran an ad film production house; we come from the same school and have been travelling together for a long time. We have experimented and explored the domain in different ways and we understand each other’s concept of cinema. The dialogues are contemporary and hopefully will match the expectations of the audience. Naa... Nuvve isn’t a bilingual.”
The film has music by Sharreth who, the director says, “Is an extremely talented music composer. I’ve been working with him for a long time. For every song I have a concept and a clear idea of how it has to be integrated into the story. We can’t have two people cut into the song suddenly. I demand a lot of time from the composer. Sharreth has the patience to go through my torture. There are six songs in the film and we have shot the film in Hyderabad.”
Jayendra cites that he took a gap after 180’s release as his spouse suffered a stroke and he was focusing on her recovery.
Ask him if 180 would stand a better chance at the box office if it released now and he analyses, “ 180 had a mixture of things that didn’t work for us at that time. We promoted it as a breezy, romantic film. The second half was too serious for youngsters and there was a mismatch between what people expected and what they actually saw. Today when you talk of cancer and its symptoms, no one wants to listen. We tried packaging this serious issue in a young mode and it was a mismatch. Had it been a serious film, it might have attracted a niche audience. Interestingly, when it was aired on television, it had huge TRPs.” He learnt a lot from 180 and made sure to avoid the mistakes, he says.
Star makeovers
The title Naa... Nuvve doesn’t sound grammatically correct. The director points out that a word is missing, a gap he wants people to fill after they watch the film. He says “This film has no negativity and sadness. Kalyan Ram couldn’t believe that we considered him for a romantic story. It is not a mature love story. If I narrate the story, you would visualise very young stars; both of them do look young. Tamannaah brought in freshness and Kalyan Ram stepped out of his comfort zone and worked towards getting a new look, body language and also in the way he speaks. He kept asking me if he was right for this role and I told him if he was ready for a makeover, people will enjoy it. He was prepared to do that.” Jayendra gave Kalyan glasses to give him a softer look. Kalyan got a new hairdo and toned down his speech and body language.”
Jayendra is confident that the audience will see a fairly different Tamannaah. “She is an established star, yet has had a makeover. She plays an RJ and Kalyan Ram is from the software industry and is on his way to America.”
Are love stories his forte? He signs off, “Not really. I like action films and I hope I get to do one. My next one could be a stylised action film.”
