Bunny Vas Enjoys Story of ‘AAY’

Narne Nithiin and Nayan Sarika star in ‘AAY’, a film produced by Bunny Vas and Vidya Koppineedi and presented by Allu Aravind under the GA2 Pictures banner. The film is directed by Anji K Maniputhra and had a grand release on August 15. It has received a superhit response. On this occasion, producer Bunny Vas spoke to the media about the film's features.

Director Anji has worked on many films as part of Anil Ravipudi's direction team. Our co-producers, Riyaz and Bhanu, brought this script to me. They asked me to listen to the story of the 'Amalapuram boy. Being good friends, I agreed and listened to it. I laughed non-stop for two and a half hours.

All the characters in this film were designed by Anji. The story is set in a small village near Amalapuram, so the characters were crafted to feel natural. I was born and raised in the same area, which helped me connect with the story. The movie is definitely an entertainer. It has plenty of entertainment and good moments, but that alone isn’t enough in today’s trend. We aimed to add a touch of class while setting the film in an area like Amalapuram. We decided that incorporating rain would contribute to this, which required shooting in foggy conditions. If the sun was too bright, we postponed the shooting.

We considered many people for the role of Vinod Kumar. However, whoever was cast would come with certain expectations. If new actors were introduced, they might not connect well with the audience.

An entertainer like AAY usually connects with the youth. If a genre resonates with the audience, it typically performs well in the first week or two. I told the director that the film needed something extra to make a significant impact, so he shifted some scenes from being purely entertaining to more emotional.

NarneNithiin, coming from a prominent family, had not released Mad before this film. I thought that if he was being cast as a hero, there might be commercial considerations. However, he has a clear understanding of which films will work for him. He is a grounded person with good judgment.

We are planning to shoot the film ‘Thandel’ and aim for a December release. However, with ‘Pushpa 2’ scheduled for the same month, we are considering a different release strategy. We are focusing on CG work for ‘Thandel,’ and I hope to clarify its release date after Dussehra, once we have addressed all these considerations.