Producer Suresh Babu wishes his father D Ramanaidu had been alive to see Venkatesh and his grandson Naga Chaitanya come together for a film on their banner. K S Ravindra, aka Bobby who’s directing Venky Mama , values this association and feels these films will stay with the audience for a long time not just because of the combination but because of its strong content.
Says Bobby about the film, “I’m happy to see a versatile actor like Venkatesh in an upbeat mood, fresh from the success of F2 . I would be happier if the audience comments that Naga Chaitanya had done great work, because I worked on his character a lot more. Firstly, the script had mass and emotional angle and we focussed on that and made sure people don’t think it is an outright comedy. There is honesty in Chaitanya and if given the right script he would go for the kill. He needs scripts that people would believe he can fit in and not the mass and action roles. He concurs with my thinking.”
How confident is he of the Venkatesh-Chaitanya combination working? Bobby says there is an X-factor and that is the advantage you get from the audience. Just as people wanted Naga Chaitanya to dump Divyanka and marry Samantha in Majili and hated the thought of Chaitanya and Divyanka being together, here too the audience would not ignore the real life relationship on the reel. “When someone coughs, the other hands over water. If one hurts his leg, the other gets teary eyed; the audience will definitely see the strong connect between the uncle and nephew and it is not artificial. Keeping their star image aside, it is the story that will give all an immersive experience.”
Bobby and Naga Chaitanya
The director describes the script as a love story between an uncle and the nephew. When Jai Luva Kusa hit the screens, Bobby was flooded with compliments for the way he etched the negative role; that was because of the writing. To keep the reputation he acquired with the project intact he needed to wait and work on a similarly strong script. It was around that time producer Suresh Babu bounced the idea and a basic structure was formed. He recalls, “I have a good team and went to Palakollu and worked on it, it took me one a half year to develop it and insert fun and power. The second half has a gripping screenplay and emotions. The original script wasn’t challenging and didn’t give me a kick. It was just feel good. Once the story was ready, I gave a two-hour narration to the producer and he liked it.”
None of the director’s earlier films have had a village or a military backdrop. This time Bobby is keen on giving a visual feast. Cinematographer Prasad Murella spent a year and a half to understand each scene in the story and stay with the mood. He did not take up other film offers during that period. Says Bobby, “Most cinematographers do not like to waste their dates these days. I wanted a cameraman who would question me if I go wrong. I did not see the raw copy, only the final one some time back and understood why Prasad took certain decisions. He gave authentic colours for the army backdrop. Jammu and Kashmir will look majestic in the film and we will be astonished to see this ‘paradise on earth’.”
On his future projects, Bobby says he had already spent two years on this film. Now he intends to move briskly. Given that there are many directors and few heroes now, what if he doesn’t find a star hero immediately as they are all busy with two or more projects? Bobby says directors should take up any film that has good content. Waiting for years for a particular hero doesn’t make sense. If some hero promises to do a film at a particular period, then a director can wait but if there is ambiguity surrounding it, one should go ahead and do films or web series or whatever that makes one happy. “Wait if you want to work with a particular hero or else move on,” says Bobby.
