Nayan’s absence creating more buzz than her presence

While there has been constant coverage over Nayantara’s absence from the promotions of ‘Anaamika’, director of the film, Sekhar Kammula tries to curb all the talk by laughing it off this way: “I think her absence is creating more buzz for the film than her presence would do. Even if she comes for the promotions… She doesn’t know the language… What would she say? Just that the film is good and that the director has done a good job?”

When asked why he didn’t comment against the actress for not doing her bit to promote the film, especially since he has been vocal earlier like about Samantha’s comment on the poster of ‘1-Nenokkadine’ and Pawan Kalyan’s political entry, he said, “Nayantara not promoting my film is an insignificant issue. When I write anything on my Twitter page, I do it only if it is a big issue that will have a large impact. Not becauseI’m bored or something!”

The director says that he is tensed about how the audiences will accept the film. “It is the first time I have tried something like this. It’s not my style… though my signature in the film is prominent. I am curious to know how the audience will take it,” he says.

While ‘Anaamika’ is the remake of Hindi film ‘Kahaani’, Kammula says, “Though it is a remake, we have made a lot of changes. After a while into the story, you will realise that the story has a new flavour.”

Interestingly ‘Anaamika’ is nothing like what Kammula has given to the audience before. But there is a reason why he chose to do the film. “I wanted to do a woman-oriented film and by sheer coincidence, the producers came to me with the story.”

In ‘Kahaani’, Vidya Balan is seen as a pregnant woman but ‘Anaamika’ doesn’t see Nayantara in the same avatar. “I wanted to show her as a woman who is strong. If she is pregnant, people may look at her with more pity. That strength shouldn’t come out of pity. And I felt that was the challenge here,” he explains.

For Kammula, this was the first time working with a “star” and he says this is something different from what he experienced before. “Nayantara excelled in her role. But when you work with stars you have to make compromises. You don’t have the kind of flexibility you have with newcomers,” he points out.