'Naa Saami Ranga', says Akkineni Nagarjuna, was completed fast with several units working simultaneously on production and post-production. Be it editing or music, everything was accomplished with the target of a Sankranthi release.
In this interview, the versatile actor sounds confident about the January 14th release, suggesting that its script is tight.
'Naa Saami Ranga' is the fastest film in my career in terms the announcement-to-release cycle. In terms of shoot days, this is not the shortest. There are films which I completed shooting in 35 days or so. This film, on the other hand, took double that time.
This is a big-scale movie in terms of a range of characters. The number is almost six to seven. We got inspired by the core subject of the Malayalam original. Friendship, sacrifice, love, loyalty and revenge are the driving themes. The story spans the Sankranthi days in the 1980s and 1990s. The love story is atypical, with the lead pair separated temporally. Their love results in failure and get remain unmarried. Director Vijay Binni added Telugu cinema flavour with the help of writer Prasanna Bezawada by infusing our cultural nativity.
It is true that Prasanna was supposed to direct the film. But I had a change of mind when I listened to his conceptual choreography style. I zeroed in on him after listening to his narration. A few senior writers like Satyanand garu listened to him.
Allari Naresh was chosen before Vijay Binni was onboarded. He suited perfectly for the character. He had to look younger than me and that's why he was picked.
It was a blessing that Keeravani garu completed the background score before the shoot. It helped us with fastening the pace of the shoot. There are seven songs, including bit songs. The melodies are excellent. The lyrics are so good.
I do participate in the creative process to an extent. I give references to music directors unless it is someone as experience as Keeravani garu. I take a lot of interest in post-production. I see how the editing work is going on. If something is not up to the mark, I give frank feedback.
'Naa Saami Ranga' hasn't got the desired number of theatres. 'Soggade Chinni Nayana' was released in 300 theatres. This time, too, we have got the same number.
Social media is a monster that you need to feed constantly. I stay away from it as far as possible. I prefer to be this way. It can alter your thought process, it can even alter your sense of identity. Sometimes, I think, your creativity diminishes if you listen to others saying you are wrong. I rely on my own commonsense to draw feedback. There was no social media when my father used to do movies. He learnt feedback by talking to people in person.
My next is with Sekhar Kammula (headlined by Dhanush). He is a proven director. When you are working with such a talented filmmaker, there are no suggestions that you can make.
That day when my father's statue was unveiled on the premises of Annapurna Studios, I could feel his presence. It always feels like he is around me.
'Ghost' did very well on OTT; it trended for several weeks. It did great on OTT. It was made originally for OTT, in fact. It was Asian Cinema's Suniel Narang's call to release it in theatres. I said okay because he is an experienced player in the exhibition segment.
I am willing to do streaming originals. But I am receiving only regular roles that befit a feature-length film. If Naga Chaitanya did 'Dhootha' for OTT, that's because it deserved that scale. I am being offered regular CBI sleuth roles by OTT platforms. They are not exciting.
I have always believed that BO range is temporary. Every actor has a shelf life, after which he becomes obscure. I don't bother about the collections of movies. I never wanted to be the best in terms of BO collections.
