Giving a new twist

In spite of making a decent debut with ‘Siddu From Sikakulam’ in 2008, director Eshwar Reddy’s career never took off, as his subsequent films ‘Seeta Ramula Kalyanam’ , ‘Ramachari’ failed to strike gold at the turnstile.

He, in fact, made a multi-starrer too after ‘Ramachari’, which he feels would have ‘brought him back to the limelight.’ “50 per cent of the filming was completed. It starred Arjun, Jagapathi Babu, Srihari, Siva Balaji, Namitha and Parvati Melton but as Srihari passed away unfortunately, it was called off,” he points out with a sense of grief.

Nonetheless, the director has put his past behind and is now ready with ‘Selfie Raja’, starring Allari Naresh in the titular role. It is a remake of 2013 Kannada hit ‘Victory’. “Naresh liked the original and after considering many names, thought I would be ideal to helm the Telugu version and approached me. I took 15 days to give it a complete new spin, post which I gave a narration to Naresh. He was blown away by it and within no time we were on sets,” he recalls fondly.

He points out that the film is a signature Naresh comic caper with noted comedians in supporting roles. “Naresh plays a guy obsessed with selfies. One of his clicks in a cinema hall with a couple in the background lands him in the soup. Similarly, his loudmouth too lands him in another trouble. How he escapes from them by sporting 12 getups is told in a hilarious way,” he shares.

Speaking at a presser recently, Naresh said that the film is bereft of any spoofs but if the recently unveiled trailer is anything to go by, then there seems to be a spoof inspired by ‘Baahubali’. “Well, we had to insert it because of a particular situation (in the film). It is not forceful at all,” Eshwar insists.

Eshwar seems to have made full use of Allu Arjun’s recent famous statement Cheppanu brother too, which dominated film headlines. Smiling he observes, “In fact we were done with our climax too by then but as Cheppanu brother controversy started to attract widespread attention, we conceived a dialogue around it.”

But isn’t he worried that Arjun’s fans will take it in a negative way? “Why don’t you think that it’s in favour of Allu Arjun? he shoots back. “See, the thing is most star hero’s fans consider Naresh as their own. They had no issues when he imitated them in ‘Sudigadu’.”

Eshwar goes a long way with Naresh, having observed him from his teenage. “He is my brother. Besides my wife, he is the only one who addresses me as Eesh. We know each other’s strengths and weaknesses. When he offered me the film, I took it as a responsibility. ”

The director promises he made the film as an out-and-out entertainer and a particular scene, which comes in the first half would remind the audience of the famous hilarious scene (the cow scene) from ‘Hanuman Junction’. “It features Prithvi, Thagubothu Ramesh, Chammak Chandra among a battery of other comedians. It’s not lifted from any movie.

It required us to spend Rs 25-30 lakh but producer Ramabrahmam Chowdary had no issues. In fact, he understood the importance of the seven-minute sequence given the context of the narrative and gave us complete liberty,” he adds, further revealing that Thagubothu Ramesh’s character will be one of the talking points. “He plays Naresh’s trusted aide and his entry in the climax when there are no options left for Naresh to flee will leave the audience in splits. It would be one of his best roles till date.”

By Nagaraj Goud