Actor Sundeep Kishan’s last release, Okka Ammayi Thappa , tanked at the box office. He doesn’t attempt to hide his disappointment while talking about it. He says, “ Beeruva and Tiger worked at various levels but Okka Ammayi Tappa was a disaster; people did not connect to the film. On paper we found it great, but it couldn’t translate well on screen.”
But he has learnt his lessons and has changed his strategy, going a bit slow and studying the market. He is not in a hurry any more to sign a new film. “Once I wrap up my work on one film, I will shift my focus to the next movie. I want to go slow and give each film 100 per cent. The industry and people are changing. There is no point doing a film narrated to me four years ago. So I want to enjoy my work; this is an exhausting shoot. Six years down the line, I have to change something about the way I work. So I better start now,” he adds.
He has two films in Tamil coming up, Mayavan and Maanagaram , which will be releasing soon. Mahanagaram stars him and Regina as the lead. It is an anthology like Vedam and Shor In the city. It is about people going to different places in search of an identity and explores what the city gives back to you. Mayavan marks the directorial debut of CV Kumar, a producer in the Tamil industry known to greenlight offbeat films. Mayavan is the producer’s debut film, it’s a contemporary investigation thriller with Lavanya Tripati and Jackie Shroff as Sundeep’s co-stars. Both these films will be dubbed into Telugu.
The last time he did a Tamil film was Yaruda Mahesh , which didn’t really do well. He quips, “ Yaruda Mahesh happened three years ago. A lot has changed since then.”
In Telugu, he is upbeat about working with director Krishna Vamsi for his forthcoming venture titled Nakshatram . “I play an aspiring police officer. The stars pinned on the sleeve of a police officer’s uniform is Nakshatram. It is an emotional action film. I have never done an out and out action film before. The director has had his share of films like Sindhooram and Kadgam . This is the first time I am working with a star-level director. It is a learning experience for me on a daily basis,” says Sundeep.
Most directors Sundeep has worked so far were relatively new, with barely one odd film to their credit. Krishna Vamsi is known to be a brand in terms of filmmaking. The fights are real, the songs are vibrant and each character in his film is a hero. How did he choose Sundeep, we ask. He laughs, “I didn’t want to ask him and give him second thoughts. Seriously speaking, he thought I could pull it off. In a way I have realised that in the recent past, though I have been successful with films that offer realistic entertainment, I somehow always tried to do serious cinema and it never worked. So this is an emotional film and there is a certain element of vulnerability to the character. Sai Dharam Tej plays a cameo. This part is not random. There is a portion of the story that is very strong. Regina and Pragya Jaiswal are the heroines. Forty percent of the film is done and there is a huge chunk to be shot. The film has a huge cast.”
Sundeep talks about the work he has put into Nakshatram . “More than getting into the character it was important for me to understand him (Krishna Vamsi). He writes characters that are real and you can relate to. I went to a police station and spent a few hours there. I did the same at a tea stall, a colony... I had a fair idea of each character when I mingled with people in a colony. I always loved the feeling of getting into a police uniform. It feels good and positive.”
Nakshatram , says Sundeep, will see a collaboration of four music directors. Srikant, who worked with Krishnavamsi for Mogudu, is the cinematographer here.
