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I had to play it safe with Pandaga Chesko: Gopichand Malineni
I had to play it safe with Pandaga Chesko: Gopichand Malineni. While ‘Pandaga Chesko’ might not have received a thumbs-up from critics, director Gopichand Malineni is happy with the fact that his target audience – the families--- are embracing the film, starring Ram, Rakul Preet Singh and Sonal Chauhan in the lead roles.
It’s a big task to remake my mentor’s (AR Murugadoss) film ‘Kaththi’. The film had an extraordinary storyline and I will take his inputs before proceeding with the Telugu draft
Gopichand Malineni
While ‘Pandaga Chesko’ might not have received a thumbs-up from critics, director Gopichand Malineni is happy with the fact that his target audience – the families--- are embracing the film, starring Ram, Rakul Preet Singh and Sonal Chauhan in the lead roles. “I was a bundle of nerves before the film opened in screens. Distributors and buyers said that they purchased the film as I was associated with it. And when they ranged me on Friday after the morning show, saying the film will do good business I heaved a mighty sigh of relief,” he says.
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The film has been dubbed as a mishmash of films like ‘Ready’ and ‘Loukyam’ but the director insists that he wanted to play it safe within in the ‘commercial’ confines. “I had novel points in my head but I didn’t want to risk a producer (Paruchuri Prasad) who already incurred huge losses with his last film. Added to that, Ram’s previous films too didn’t set the box-office on fire, leaving me no option but to play it safe,” he avers.
Does that mean he will not tell new stories? “I don’t mean that,” he replies. “My upcoming films too will be in the commercial format but I will try to narrate them in a new way. I believe the screenplay makes the difference.” A project with Ram, Malineni says, was always on the cards. “I wanted to direct him for long. We were supposed to do a film earlier but it materialised with another hero. In fact, Ram had the script rights of ‘Pandaga Chesko’. And when we thought its’ time to collaborate, he made me listen to the script (of Veligonda Srinivas). I felt it fitted him perfectly. Later, I worked on it with writer Kona Venkat.”
Up next, the director is ready to remake Tamil monstrous hit ‘Kaththi’ in Telugu. The original was directed by his mentor AR Murugadoss. NTR is said to have given his assent for the remake but Malineni is not keen to divulge any details as of now. “It’s a big task to remake my mentor’s film. The film had an extraordinary storyline and I will take his inputs before proceeding with the Telugu draft. I want to make it more commercial,” he signs off.
