EVV Satyanarayana
Bollywood, his next stop
Everyone was surprised when top-notch director EVV Satyanarayana put his career and reputation at stake for his home production Chala Bagundi. But fortunately he proved his point by making a hit film with his deft-handling of a very novel point. While on one hand he delivered blockbusters like Hello Brother, Alluda Mazka and Intlo Illalu Vantinto Priyalu, on the other hand, he impressed viewers with his hard-hitting films like Aame and Kanyadanam and attained an enviable reputation as a complete director who can handle both commercial and off-beat themes with consummate ease. He claims that lack of proper promotion was one of the reasons why his maiden Hindi film Sooryavamsham did not fare well. But that does not deter him from proving his mettle the second time round with the Hindi remake of Chala Bagundi which will have Rani Mukerji in the lead. Sanjay Kapoor and Akshaye Khanna are tipped to play the male lead and shooting would commence from January next. He has plans to make films with Chiranjeevi, Venkatesh and Nagarjuna with whom he has some massive hits. A tete with the ace director....

Your forte has always been light-hearted entertainers like Hello Brother and Intlo Ilalu and most of these were big hits when remade in Hindi. Then while making a debut in Hindi, why did you not opt for a similar kind of subject instead of a melodramatic film like Sooryavamsham? What, according to you, went wrong since both, Tamil and Telugu versions of the film, were blockbusters?
It is true that I am comfortable making wholesome entertainers and if you have observed, I made off-beat films like Aame and Kanyadanam parallel to my regular commercial films. I have never ever wanted to get typecast in a particular genre and to avoid this, I used to do four different films every year. My gamble paid off and now the audience are awaiting for some novelty in both commercial and realistic films from me.

Since I wanted to follow the same pattern even in Hindi, I took up Sooryavamsham. But due to lack of proper promotion, it failed to reach out to the audience.

Another reason was that it comprised mostly of artistes from the South thus giving a feeling that it was a dubbed film. All said and done, it was great working with Amitabh Bachchan and also the appreciation, I received from him over lunch at his residence is enough for me than the commercial ratings of the film. Moreover, most of the Hindi magazines gave good reviews for the film. This was reason enough to boost me and encourage me to give Hindi films another try.

So you have decided to remake Chala Bagundi, another serious film, in Hindi. What are you doing to avoid the mistakes committed during Sooryavamsham? Will this film see you in the league of good Hindi directors?
Bigwigs like Anil Kapoor, Sridevi, Boney Kapoor, Sanjay Kapoor, Akshaye Khanna and Rani Mukerji unanimously lauded the novel idea of the film. Moreover it is fresh treatment that is the highlight. Rani Mukerji is the heroine while the rest will be finalised soon.

To commence shooting from January, we plan to wrap it up in four months. We will also be finalising a top Hindi music director soon. I am confident that it would launch me in Hindi in a big way since it has all the ingredients like love, sentiment, friendship, comedy and music in equal measure. Being aware of the mistakes that we committed earlier, we would be shooting a major part of the film in North India to give it a native touch. And this film will have only Hindi artistes and technicians. Moreover, we would be promoting the film in a massive way.

Like producer Boney Kapoor who has a penchant for promoting talent from South in Hindi films, you too are doing the same for South Indian producers, Jagadish Prasad and Suryanarayan. What is the reason for not doing it for regular Hindi producers?
I do agree that many Hindi producers have shown keen interest in taking up the project but I am doing it for Jagadish Prasad and Suryanarayan for the word I have given to them. I had promised to do a Hindi film for them and so when they asked me to do this film, I readily agreed since they are capable producers. I think Boney Kapoor will join them later.

Hits and flops are very common in a director’s career. Why did you project Chala Bagundi as a do-or-die film?
I was hurt when some producers took back their advance money from me after I delivered a flop. That is when I felt unsure of getting another film irrespective of my seniority. I was determined to prove myself to all and so it was projected as a do-or-die film. I have always had confidence in my capabilities. I am thankful to the audience when they liked Chala Bagundi and the film was a very big it. I faced similar situation earlier when my debut film Chevilo Poovo flopped but a great man like Rama Naidu who believes in talent gave me Prema Khaidi and I have never looked back ever since. Today all the producers who deserted me at one time are waiting to sign me for their films. But I have decided to make films for producers like Mahendra and those producers who are going through a lean phase besides giving a boost to small-budget films.

What happened to the film you were to start with new faces? You are now busy working on Ammo Okatothedi. Will it be another offbeat film like Amme? How do you choose these odd titles?
I am still scouting for new faces. Though I have already finalised a boy and and girl, I need another young pair too. Once I get the right cast, I would commence shooting immediately as I have the script ready. That is the reason why I started Ammo Okatothedi which focuses on various problems of the middle-class family. Amme was a tale of a young girl. This film touches many of their day-to-day problems. For most middle-class families, while the first day of a month brings happiness as it is salary day, for some, it is sorrow day too as most of the money would be spent on the same day. I worked out 160 scenes for Amme and I could use only 80 scenes due to its story constraints. Now I can utilise all those heart-rending scenes for this power-packed film. So far the titles have been well received and I hope to continue in the same manner.

Your discovery LB Sriram has signed more than 20 films. Are you comfortable working with new talents?
After Maa Nanaku Pelli, MS Narayana became a busy comedian and now LB Sriram has become the sought-after comedian. If I had cast leading comedians for those roles, they would have lost the charm since people like to watch new faces. I have already groomed a new comedian and I would be introducing him in my next film.
I am happy working with newcomers since they are always at our beck and call whenever we need them whereas busy artistes put pressure on us always. They perpetually want to leave early and hence we have to wrap up their work fast. Except that new talents need more rehearsals, I guess, working with new talents is always easy. In this film I am also introducing stage artistes.

After long time you are working with Balakrishna. How confident are you about Gopinti Alludu?
It is nice working with Balakrishna. It would be a minimum guarantee film but if it catches up, it is bound to become a hit. It is definitely my kind of film and it has shaped up very well. After this, my next release would be realistic film Amma Okatothedi as I would like to surprise everyone by churning out varied themes. Soon I would be doing film with Chiranjeevi, Venkatesh and Nagarjuna for which scripts are almost ready.

You claimed that you have eight scripts on hand. How did you manage that without knowing the star with whom you are making it?
When I was without work sometime ago I decided to work on new stories which is why today I have around eight or nine scripts ready. Once the script is ready, I give the stars the choice of selecting from them.

When I began my career, I had 12 scripts ready and after Prema Khaidi I delivered eleven hits in a row since there was no dearth of scripts. I still believe that the subject is the hero of the film. I concentrate more on them and now again I am ready with good scripts. Under my banner EVV Cinema, I would be making films only with ‘novel’ points and I am willing to wait for a couple of years until I get that different subject.

Have you parted ways with Koti, your favourite composer, as you have signed Vandemataram Srinivas this time?
Koti has been and would always be my favourite composer. He is also a friend of mine. For Amma Okatothedi, we needed a music director who can give us music with indianised instruments and without the influence of western music so we opted for Srinivas. Koti understands my view and he is happy with my decision.
For my next film with Srikanth and Naveen I am planning to introduce a new composer Murthy. But I will work with Koti whenever I need his kind of my for my film.

BVS P