Down, but not out

Young directors Ashok, Sudheer Varma and Santhosh Srinivas share one thing in common- all looking for a blockbuster to revive their sagging careers. These directors would have also realised that delivering a hit is easy but maintaining the winning streak is a daunting task.

Talking about the tough phase in his career, director Ashok of `Pilla Zamindar’ fame says “Films like ‘Sukumarudu’ and ‘Chitrangada’ didn’t do well as expected and I realised that I got the duration long in `Sukumarudu’ and I wouldn’t repeat such mistakes.

I am glad that producers who worked with me before, are keen to work with me again since I stick to stipulated budgets,” he adds Nevertheless, the talented director is pinning big hopes on his next big-ticket film `Bhagmati’ starring glam diva Anushka in the lead to deliver a blockbuster. ”Post production work is on and we are planning for release in July,’ he adds.

Next-in-line is director Sudheer Varma who made his debut with a hit film ‘Swami Ra Ra’ but lost his way with dud ‘Dochay’, a crime-thriller gone awry. Nevertheless, hotshot Nikhil joined hands with him once again for ‘Keshava’, which is releasing today.

The action saga has evoked enough buzz and looks to have the potential to spin box-office magic. “The combination of Nikhil-Sudheer has fetched good profits for producer Abhishek since it’s one of the much-awaited films this summer’ says a distributor.

Similarly, cinematographer-turned-director Santosh Srinivas who tasted success with ‘Kandireega’ but dented his career with flops like ‘Rabhasa’ and ‘Hyper’. Industry sources now say that Santosh Srinivas would be directing none -other-than Pawan Kalyan soon, in a remake of the Tamil hit ‘Vedhalam’ and the director could make a comeback of sorts.