Dynamite is more of a thriller

A mechanical engineer by profession, filmmaker Deva Katta insists that his earlier film, ‘Autonagar Surya', was written well but executed badly. “Many negative things were said about the film, including that I was the reason for the film going over budget (to the tune of Rs 25 crore). But the fact is it was shot under Rs 9 crore,” he says.

However, Deva has put the past behind and is now awaiting the release of ‘Dynamite’ which stars Manchu Vishnu in the lead role. “It is not an out-and-out action entertainer. It is more of a thriller. Though the film’s running time is 2.08 minutes, the action episodes last for only 15-20 minutes in total. It is also interspersed with a love story".

A remake of Tamil hit ‘Arima Nambi’, Deva insists that it was Vishnu who made him watch the original. "Vishnu loved the original before asking me to catch it. He also insisted that I wrap up the film in 40 days. I was reluctant initially but after watching it, I took a liking to it. I completely penned a new story out of it. In short I can say: ‘I took a writer’s story and directed it’.

“In the original there were certain lags and Tamil audience are okay with such portions. However, we had to create interesting sequences out of those lags for Telugu audience. We’ve wrapped up the film in 56 days and Vishnu takes the credit for it,” he says. With his past films having a reference or two to his personal life, ‘Dynamite’ too, he says, falls more or less into the same category.

“Vishnu’s character has a close connection to my life; hence I related more to the script.” Criticised for being slow, Deva has decided to up his pace. “"I am ready with three scripts, out of which one is a love story and the other is a rom-com. We are still deciding on the casting. I will be working with people who will give me my creative space".

By Divya Vallabhaneni