Allari Naresh awaits the release of 'Bangaru Bullodu' on January 23. In this interview, he talks about the film, why its release got delayed, why 'Naandhi' will be special, the kind of movies he wants to do and more.
I play a Grameen Bank employee in the film. His responsibility is to determine the value of mortgaged loan at the bank. The story has nothing to do with the old 'Bangaru Bullodu'. It was Anil Sunkara garu's idea to remix the song by the same name.
There are no parodies or spoofs in the movie. Director Giri Palika garu has previously worked with me on 'Bendu Apparao', who was its story-writer. It has been years since I did a village-based movie. We shot the film in Rajolu, Antarvedi, Pollachi in Kerala and other areas.
My character in the film is inspired by a real-life incident. A bank employee in Rajahmundry duped customers by creating fake gold. I got trained in goldsmith's work for a few days to get a hang of the role. This is the first time that the male lead in a Telugu film is playing a goldsmith.
I have known director Giri for many years. He used to be an assistant under my father. This is his second film, the first being 'Nandini Nursing Home'. He is a soft-spoken person who is clear about what he wants. He is particular about what he wants and doesn't compromise. He refused when we suggested that a set of a Grameen Bank be erected at the Aluminium Factory. The director wanted things to be real. So, we shot in real locations after securing permissions.
The film was supposed to be completed in parallel with 'Maharshi'. Due to some issues with my dates, the shoot of 'Bangaru Bullodu' kept on getting postponed.
Pooja Jhaveri loafs around in the movie. Hers is a strange character.
It was fun to be with the family during lockdown. OTT was a source of entertainment. I would listen to stories via Zoom. Most of us in the industry have been connecting through Zoom calls.
Due to the pandemic, OTT has penetrated deeply. Netflix, Amazon Prime and the like are slowly expanding their horizons. Cuss words and sex scenes are slowly getting blurred even on OTT. If the character demands, I am ready to mouth cuss words. But I am not comfortable with sex scenes. In 'Naandhi', I have gone nude but there is no love-making scene in it.
After 'Maharshi', I received a couple of offers on similar lines in Tamil. Those characters didn't have much importance in the story. So, I rejected them.
I landed 'Naandhi' only because of 'Maharshi'. The story of the film is very serious and I was startled that someone narrated such a grim script to me. This is a raw, rustic film. It has no similarities with 'Visaranai', the Tamil movie. We wanted to keep things raw like Anurag Kashyap does. I have not a single comedy dialogue in 'Naandhi'.
It was not easy to do the nude scene in 'Naandhi'. The director insisted that I should do it in a natural way and not with synthetics in place. I am happy that people are waiting for its release.
I have done slapstick and other types of typical comedies. I now want to try only content-based movies. I am open to trying dark comedies and such genres. Of late, I liked 'Lootcase'. I felt that such a hilarious script will suit me. I and Anil Sunkara have plans to remake the film.
I feel comedies have a long shelf-life. With thrillers, the shelf-life is short. Even to this day, we watch Rajendra Prasad garu's movies for comic relief. Spoofs are unique to our movies. Many North Indian audience think that 'Sudigaadu' is a serious film. They troll me.
If I make 'Kithakithalu' today, they would put me in a jail, accusing me of body-shaming a woman. Body-shaming is not what the film intended. It's about how a beauty-loving man comes of age in the film. The audience have become too sensitive. Loud comedy has been replaced with the subtle comedy of late.
