'Skylab' will be released in theatres on December 4. In this interview, Satyadev Kancharana talks about his character, what makes the film unique, working with director Vishvak, cinematographer Aditya Javvadi, why Nithya Menen has no scenes with him in the movie, his upcoming projects, dream roles, and more.
Since my college days, I have been a funny person with my friends and acquaintances. But my face has been seen as suitable for serious characters. Although I have mostly played serious roles, I have always wanted to play fun roles. In 'Skylab', I play a calculated doctor named Dr. Anand. He wants to cash in on the Skylab crisis in his village.
The film is dominated by situational comedy involving my characters and the villagers. He wants to set up a clinic and what he does to convince the villagers generates beautiful comedy.
I, Rahul Ramakrishna and Nithya Menen have played the primary characters. We live in a village full of people preparing for catastrophe. It's all humorous.
The 1970s movie has been amped up with saturated depiction. It's not a desaturated framing at all. The costume designer, the cinematographer and the director sat down and visualized the colour palette. They wanted the frames to be saturated.
Doing it in Sync Sound saved us from the process of dubbing. If the dialogues are learned by the actors and delivered, Sync Sound works. When you do dubbing, you can't retain 100% of the emotion.
The comedy in 'Skylab' is situational and driven by the characters. The main characters have their share of character traits that are funny. I have got zero scenes with Nithya Menen. Hers is a separate track. I and Rahul Ramakrishna have many scenes together. Nithya is a superb performer and there is no doubt about it.
'Skylab' is a comedy because the tragedy that many feared would happen didn't happen. There is also a philosophical touch.
Director Vishvak Khanderao comes with a lot of clarity. He had prepared a thorough storyboard before coming to us. It was 'Brochevarevarura' director Vivek Athreya who had told me that Vishvak would be coming to us to narrate the story. Before him, at least 2-3 others wanted to tell a story based on the Skylab crisis. But we were the first ones to announce the project.
The humour is quirky and therefore, writing the dialogue was tough. We are confident about our film because nobody else has touched his subject since the incident happened about 40 years ago. 'Thimmarusu', my previous film, was a box office as well as OTT hit. I am glad that I am having yet another theatrical release in a short gap.
'Gurthunda Seethakalam' is going to be a love story. 'Godse' is a political thriller. I am working with Akshay Kumar garu on 'Ram Sethu'. I have got a full-fledged character in the Bollywood film. It's a perfect Bollywood debut for me. I have done six films during the pandemic. Without recognition, I wouldn't be doing these many projects. Even when the situation was bad owing to the pandemic, 'Thimmarusu' made money.
I am hungry for new kinds of roles. It is going to take 20 to 30 years for me to reach the saturation point. I have a lot of dream roles in mind, from the kind Vijay Sethupathi garu has played in 'Super Deluxe' to Chiranjeevi garu in 'Apathbandhavudu'. Kamal Haasan garu's performance in 'Naayakudu' is another personal favourite.
