A visual extravaganza in the making

Director SV Krishna Reddy, best known for family films like ‘Shubalagnam’ and ‘Mavichiguru’ among others, is on a comeback mode with ‘Yamaleela 2’. “Ever since I was a child, my only passion was to associate with films. The passion is still the same; in fact it’s more. Yes, it is a comeback for me, but I will strike big,” assures the director, who is celebrating his birthday today in Hyderabad.

His new film also boasts of high-end VFX. “We had no great technology at the time of ‘Yamaleela’, yet we came up with some tricks. However, things have undergone a sea change over the last two decades and ‘Yamaleela 2’ has some of the best visual effects. Makuta VFX, which worked on ‘Eega’, has been hired for the purpose.

Refuting news that the film is a sequel to his 90s cult ‘Yamaleela’, he states, “It’s a series on the lines of Bhatti Vikramarka short stories. It’s the first of its kind in Telugu cinema. However, my signature elements – entertainment and drama – are in abundance. Chitragupta, played by Brahmanandam, loses Bhavishyavani once again and the consequences that follow are told in stark contrast to that of ‘Yamaleela’.”

Having introduced the little-known Ali as hero through ‘Yamaleela’, he is now introducing entrepreneur Dr KV Satish, head of premier real estate firm DX Max, in the second installment. I took it as a challenge, he says. “He is a hero in real life, having scaled new heights in real estate from scratch. My responsibility was to ensure that he was projected well on screen as a hero. He fit the role exactly and that made my job easy.”

How difficult was it for Satish to transform from an entrepreneur to an actor? “When Murali Mohan garu ventured into real estate successfully, why can’t Satish do the opposite? Moreover, his dream was to turn a hero,” he responds. On working with a strict disciplinarian like Mohan Babu, who is essaying the role of the iconic Yama in the film, he points out, “It’s always good to see people drop by sets earlier than the scheduled time (laughs). It makes our job easy. Mohan Babu garu surrenders to the director’s vision completely; he never interferes with other departments.”

With T-town abstaining from family films, will he go back the old way and come up with subjects that he is known for, in the future? “I don’t know what I will come up with after ‘Yamaleela 2’ except for a fact that I’m committed to making another film for Satish. Films laden with human values will always triumph at the box-office; it’s the same with Hollywood too; the success of ‘The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel’ is an example of it.” The director has also fulfilled his dream of directing a Hollywood flick; he called the shots for ‘Divorce Invitation’ a couple of years ago. About the experience, he maintains, “The West approaches a film in a systemic way, our very own KV Reddy practiced it in the 50s and 60s, but somewhere we’ve lost it.”