Kamal endorsed Venky’s name for Drishyam: Sripriya

Superstar Venkatesh-starrer ‘Drishyam’, a remake of the Malayalam hit of the same name, is Suresh Productions first film after it recently celebrated 50 years of inception. While the makers- Suresh Babu and Rajkumar Sethupathy- maintained absolute secrecy surrounding the remake, the film’s first media interaction, briefing about the film’s progress and promotional activities, was held in Hyderabad on Friday evening. Speaking about the film, actor-turned-director Sripriya said everybody endorsed Venky’s name to reprise Mohanlal’s role in the original. “When we were discussing the possibility of the Telugu remake in Chennai, everybody, including Kamal Haasan suggested that Venky is best suited for the role,” she said.

Co-producer Suresh Babu said that he and Venky were blown away by the original. “We watched the Malayalam version together and connected to it instantly. It was a family drama, yet was laced with thriller elements,” he said and added that many titles were considered before they felt that ‘Drishyam’ fitted the bill. “Many titles like ‘Nenu Naa Kutumbam’, ‘Rambabuku Telusu’ and ‘Comic Man’ were considered but one of our team members suggested that since it looks on par with the original, why not go with the same title? We took his suggestion.”

The film, a tale of what happens when a common man’s happy family faces a situation that threatens to turn their lives upside down, is shot in Araku Valley, Vijayanagaram, Hyderabad and Kerala. It will hit the screens next month. Besides Meena who is playing Venky’s wife in the flick, Naresh, Nadia, Kruthika, Esther, Paruchuri Venkateshwara Rao and Chalapathy Rao will be seen in significant roles.