😂🤩RAW TALKS IS BACKKK AGAINN WITH SUPERRR FUNNN‼️ Ft Adivi Sesh | Telugu Podcast | Raw Talks With VK

Many people have comfort foods You have comfort movies and scenes

Manmathudu

Yes

Manmathudu

Jalil

First she loved me Then I started loving her

Then she started loving me

Get ready for the action adventure of a lifetime

Lakshmi Ganapathi Films

Deck Hyde

A love story

Look at that

Hey

Back then What's your beauty regimen?

How did you crack this low budget high box office? Hey, back in the day... What's your beauty regimen?

How did you crack this low budget, high box office? I made a movie for 1 crore. But the value is a 10 crore film. Because, I called actor Sumanth and said, Bro, A&R has a brand new lens. Can I use it? I put my personal credibility on the line and I'll take care of the rest.

I personally drove the and bring the car. So this is called low cost, high box office.

They call it a jockey.

It was a small argument about getting into a club among kids. He took out a gun and shot me. I was out for 10 minutes. I was out for 2 minutes. In the US, even though I lived in that atmosphere, there was always a...

There was always a certain angle, that was different from the gear shown in movies. If I announce a movie today, producer, theatrical rights, OTT rights, audio rights, overseas rights,

will be sold.

Maybe there are 150 people in India. Out of 150 crores, there are 150 people. What am I thinking in between 1, 10, 30? Say script selection. What the crap is script selection? If it's like 25 scripts, then it's not happening.

I met him at my producer's birthday. Suresh, when are you making a film as big as mine? I was like, you little...

You little...

We were having tea and a few guys said, Bro, the hero's dialogue was awesome. The dialogue wasn't the hero's, it was for the writer. Don't say anything, just listen. Jonathan Gandhi and Nuna Lakkar also coming to the shoot.

Oh, that's why you came to meet me.

I'm seeing new colors in him.

He's on the internet again.

You said you were 10th in that interview, he's 11th in this interview.

No non-veg.

No non-veg.

That's a big debate, right?

It's a big debate. I'll be in that debate. One two, one two. In our Raw Talks, we always strive to do something different in the Telugu content space. For that, we would need your support. If you don't have support, please do subscribe. And do double check if you have subscribed or not.

Bro, hi!

Bro, hi!

I liked what you said in the call yesterday. What's up with you guys? You guys are all high tech I think it was the movie Kshanam The first scene was shot near Allu Arjun's house What happened there? It was Kshanam right?

PVP's house was in that area And on the road near that A small girl A police uncle there liked my performance in Panjali. So, I said, uncle, uncle, please take a picture. I said okay and he said he saw it for two hours.

So, I am shooting. Adarsh Sharma, you know, one character is supposed to beat him up. And we were shooting Kshanam at a time at a one crore budget. Today, I have a hundred crore budget. But that was at a one crore budget. Two zeros less.

So I am the action choreographer. So I am like, change it like this. I am explaining to two African Nigerian actors who don't speak English very well

but understand Old City Hindi somewhat. So I am explaining to them in Hindi, Telugu and English. And they are like, but I will hurt her. Old city Hindi somewhat. So, I'm speaking Hindi, Telugu and English mixed for them.

No, no, no, don't worry.

So, in the middle of this discussion on a road, Yeah, what are you doing?

Rehearsal?

No, shoot. I'll come home. No, no, you go. You carry on. What's my fear? Police uncle is watching. Traffic is getting heavy. Bunny is giving me respect. I should take this shot when you leave.

Otherwise, police uncle will catch me. Bunny is just shocked. Where is the crew? We are just 7 people. You guys have also done something to rent Annapurna Studios and the school. Yeah, in Gudachal, in Trinetra headquarters,

That is the Annapurna school campus, classrooms.

Okay.

So, they have classes six days a week. And we surely cannot afford to build a set. Because, Kshanam 1 crore means Gudachari was 4.25 crores. Everyone says 6 crores, but the 175 was for marketing. Actually, I have 6 crores.

175 is for marketing. We have made a film in 4.25. So, you don't even know how to build a building? So, so... I don't know how to build a building even then. That's it.

That's a bit of an exercise.

So, we... Every Sunday, we get to shoot in this very nice building. Okay. Every Saturday, from 9pm, we start the art.

Painting? Not painting, lots of props, a complete high-end spy establishment.

In school?

In school.

By Sunday 7 am. Shot at 8 am. Until Sunday 9 pm. Because we have to shoot extra call sheets. We get only one day.

Yes.

15 days shoot. 15 Sundays. So, after 9 pm, we have to repaint it.

Crazy. To make it the same classroom. 15 Sundays. So, after 9pm, we have to repaint it again.

Crazy. To make it the same classroom. We have to remove all the props. And there are a lot of hanging things. We can't do anything with it.

Right.

We have to replace all of them, decorate it, and by Monday morning, 10am, we would have gone out by 9.58am,

and we would have started class by 10am.

We are getting it ready in school. You got it. That was good, Acharya. But definitely we should talk about your cost cutting patterns. Because, like you said, 6 crores, 6.5 crores is reasonable. But for a 4 point change, how did you crack this low budget, high box office pattern?

It wasn't bro. It's glamorous to say that, right? Actually, script selection is good. What the crap is script selection, dude? If it's like 25 scripts,

that's it.

That's not happening, bro. You know, if you keep on thinking about what to do on these walls and struggle to make a story. And I think my people don't realize that you have to pay for a film somehow. With money, time and effort. To make a good film, you need time, effort and money.

If you don't have time, it will be a lot of work. You need to put in a lot of effort. If you don't put in a lot of effort, time will pass and money will increase. If you don't put in a lot of effort, time will pass and money will increase. You won't make a movie. So, if you want to make a good movie, there are definitely two out of three. And what people don't realize is, I made a film in one crore.

But the value is a 10 crore film. Correct. Because, I called actor Sumanth and said, Bro, A.N.R.'s brand new Benz is there. And it was his favorite car. Can I use that Benz as Adashma's car in Kshanam?

The same scene that Bani stopped. That white Benz belongs to Sumanth and A.N.R. So, bro, please let me borrow it. Now, okay, at that time, you're probably renting a Mercedes Benz for 25,000 rupees a day. The driver, the driver, that whole thing will thing will cost you 40, 50,000.

That's it.

We had it for five days.

That's two lakhs.

Right? Who's this two lakh value?

Mine.

So, I put my personal credibility on the line. This won't get scratched. It won't get scratched. Nothing will get scratched. I'll take care of it. I will drive it personally and bring the car. So, this...

...is not called low cost, high box office. It is called a chakir. And... It comes from... Too straight but very true. Yeah, it comes from emotional investment.

Isn't it?

Yes. I mean...

I care.

And I often find that many actors and actresses and directors and producers, it's not that they don't love films. But if I have to pick between myself and the film, I pick myself. For them.

Right.

For me, I always pick the film ahead of myself. I remember, at one point, we were on the stage. Photographers were like, come to the center. I was like, it's okay, you take them. They were like, sir, you are the hero for the film. You should come to the stage center.

So I didn't realize, even after the film became a hit, I was still in the mindset that I have to do more for the film. I didn't realize that I was the center of attraction for that film. So, it took me 10 years to realize that I was also important. Did you become a hero? I am the face of the film, I am representing the film. Maybe, I should have had that thought earlier.

But, if I had that thought, would I there a little earlier. But if it had been there, would this film quality have come?

Right.

So, what I try to do now is, I try to find that balance. Now, for Decoy, we are trying many interesting things. Now, a dance, watching it is not new to anyone, to Telugu audience. They are like, just by turning on the TV, you get these and that. D juniors and all. So, what is it? They're like, TV on just a child. And they'll be able to stay. Junior. So what is it?

Me having fun is the. And we try to do something. Why just get one? It's not about a hot girl. Why not get a beautiful woman who sang the song and dance the song. That's a journey.

And then we said, you know, this movie, this song has a small, you know, that small UP vibe. Beams first time, after listening to that, a small UP vibe came. UP, Haryana, that small heartland vibe. Who is the big singer there? That's Pawan Singh. Hey, Pawan Singh, Pawan Singh. Okay, let's call Pavan Singh. Took six months to reach him.

I told him the story with the same mindset. He listened to the song and said, it's good, the song is good. But why are we doing this? I told him the story and told him the story in three minutes. He was shaken by the story. Crazy. The story has nothing to do with him. So, you're bringing in Pawan Singh, you're bringing in Jonitha, I'm dancing. That's the... We thought about it earlier, right?

We did all this. Tell me a new matter. New masala? Generally, many people have comfort foods, comfort places. There are comfort movies and scenes. Manmathudu... comfort places. There are comfort movies and scenes. Manmadhudu. Yes. I am mouthing the dialogues wherever Madhudu is from.

First she loved me, then I loved her. The Paris segment will be great. She also watches Alavai Kuntapuram, right? First 45 minutes. I think in Alavai Kuntapuram, it's probably the, how do I about Manak and Manmadhu... For Gen Alpha, it will be that.

They... A film came out when we were kids. A film that we had in our time... That kind of film for Alavai Kondapuram.

I feel.

Right.

And I think it's an extraordinary commercial film. People don't realize how tough it is to make one of those. Because in those movies, if you go a little bit this way, they will say, this is a home made film. If you go a little bit this way, they will say, what a film. But the difference between this and that is only 10%. Commercial films now.

So, you have to be very careful. Do you believe in this commercial format? I mean, there should no more a concept. Because in that list, Durandhar is commercial. In Durandhar 1, there is a dance song. They are fully covered. Then is it commercial or not? New definition. I think commercial, in my mind, if you really

get down, what is commercial? It is selling more. Hmm.

Right. So, to make people stop, whatever we can do. It's like with Decoy, what we try to do is, we try to take classical ideas.

Love story. For 13 years,

he is in jail, burning with rage. Tell me a new way of capturing it.

What is a girl drifting with an ambulance? I feel we were trying to find a new way of telling emotions that are universal. Right.

I wanted to ask you, how much of network plays a role in building your career? Maybe 0 to 1, I don't know.

1 in G.

Bro, that plays a role everywhere, especially in India.

Bro, our country is like,

a farmer's son becomes a farmer. A doctor's son becomes a doctor. And so, when you come into a situation where the network is already existing, that privilege is extraordinary. And I feel... And your family members are also in the movie industry, right?

Yeah, my uncle was first. Angaro uncle. He worked with Dasar Narayan. Executive production. But he had a heart attack in the 80s. And after that, a small feeling in the family. Movies are not good for us.

We have those superstitions. So, me and my uncle's son, another uncle's son, Kiran brother, Sai Kiran. We both decided to go to the main cinema separately. For acting or for him? Direction. So, his journey was his and my journey was mine.

And Kiran brother is the Vinayak in the village, he directed all these films. Nice, recent movies actually He was the one who When I first came I don't even know the address Curry Point is here

Oh, that range I wanted to explain from there This is our TV This is a very popular channel Where were you then?

Manikonda I thought very popular channel. Where did you come from? Manikonda. Manikonda, okay. I thought you came from Krishnanagaram.

No, but it was actually, I would say, Krishnanagaram's population saturation is next. Yeah, yeah, yeah. It will be the same when you come. So, Manikonda was brand new. When I came to Manikonda, there were no roads there.

It was all mud roads. me the way first one two years. And after that we had very different journeys. So, I feel when I think about it, when I talk to a producer or an actor, seeing my height or the way I talk or the natural American accent I get in English, they will feel like I gave them a coffee and talked to them with respect. My parents gave me this privilege. So that was the network.

Well said actually. So everybody in India has a certain degree of network. If someone stops you in traffic, you will say, I will buy my father. India is a country built on who do you know.

I did a video, 5 think it was five years back, when I started my content creation journey. I was talking about network as net worth. I mentioned, in India, as you said, many people have a network. But some people have a network to get away with the police.

Or some people have it for the first day, first show, to make Pavan Kalyan's movie. There are such people. But what else is network? We have to understand this. It's not just numbers. It's not just that you can recognize them when they say hi. Also, India has those unexplained middlemen. They are so important, you know.

In our registration office, in our RTO, if you can't find an apartment anywhere, first of all, bastards don't give apartments for rent. They are the real anywhere. First of all, who will give apartments to the bastards? Yes. They are the real... They are the real power of India.

Right.

The middlemen and middlewomen who are there, they are the real power of India.

Let's see what they send.

If they can't see, don't worry. How was this transfer? I think I asked Siddhu. Yeah, I've asked both of them. Yeah, I've asked them. Not just fan base, but recognition. Because of this recognition stage,

you have to set some boundaries. You have to add a manager in the process. Or start a decorum. Or you can't talk much. You can't openly say remuneration. Or negotiations, dates, you can't talk about all these.

How was the adaptation of this transformation? Luckily, I was so busy, focused on the movie. I didn't think about myself much. Who took care of the starting love? No one. And even if someone took care of it, it was good.

Push for tech.

Push for tech.

Is it? How much?

Not much, but the point is, in the beginning, that not much was also very big for us.

At what time?

During the panja.

Okay.

And, it was my... I didn't care for it much. So, I don't even remember it that much. I don't think about myself that much. So, I don't even remember that much. I don't think about myself that much. You know, sometimes someone comes and asks, what is the secret to your beauty? My mother. How much did you do manufacturing?

No, seriously, most of it, I'm very lazy. I don't have much. You know, unless, movie like major, movie like that, I did a particular physical transformation for a major movie. So... I wasn't thinking about myself much. But I realized... It matters.

And I realized it late.

Okay.

So...

What I saw in that realization was... Better to talk lesser. Because... I was talking to, when the camera was off, I said, the internet never forgets. Very true. It's a digital footprint, right? Digital footprint, but also, what people think because of it is,

if we have an opinion, 10 years back, that same opinion will be there 10 years later, it will be fixed.

Exactly.

So, today, for example, if I say something about, I really enjoyed skydiving. I gave an example like that. 10 years back, he said skydiving is fear. What is this? He is such a big hypocrite. That too, he says that.

So, I just feel like, Dude, what is his journey in 10 years? How many experiences would he have had? Absolutely. How much it might have changed in the mind and heart. As they say, the moment life can change. Exactly. So people don't realize that the opportunity to change your mind, for some reason, is not permissible on the internet. Because of that I am very against war, very against violence.

Aggression and all. Even from the beginning. Even from the beginning, I am a pacifist and I believe in Ahimsa. And I didn't like, I mean, the way the US attacked suddenly, I didn't like it. It didn't feel right. And I feel, you know, that what happened with that elementary school, 167 girls.

Old people and animals, the most vulnerable creatures in the world. So I don't talk about anyone except them. And that is a learnt behavior. Because I realized, if we had two people who would spoil it, there would be 10 people who would scold us.

100%.

And again, when can I hide behind this? When that celebrity doesn't know my face, my identity, my life, I'll wear it. No, it makes sense. I mean, I know too. I mean, see, doesn't know, I'll marry her. No, it makes sense. I mean, I don't know, see, I still remember,

I was 8 years back, 7 years back, before I started my business, I was very aggressive. Very fast, if anything small happened, I would beat up people, and such situations would happen. Driving was super fast. I would get angry very fast.

With time, everything would change. Even when you said you got injured, I would like to ask you, with greater responsibility or greater... I'm going to quote Spider-Man. I'm going to quote Spider-Man. I mean, the responsibility is a little bit of fear, safety, or thought process, stopping for a while, thinking, patience, all these are add-ons,

they are just parallels that are drawn. So, there are a lot of changes, some people can't bear it, some people are short of breath, all these are add-ons. Parallels are drawn. So, there are a lot of changes. Some people may not be able to bear it. Some people may be shocked.

They may think, what is this?

How did he change so much?

As you said, transformation is very inevitable. We cannot stop it. We cannot hide from it. But with time, it can change in a year, in a half year, in a second, in a day.

You have changed so much in a new attempt and in a new major. I felt very nice. I gave an interview the other day. When you told, you observed in Unnikrishnan sir, his love for animals, your observation is different. That's what I liked a lot. Because of that, you and your twitter... Yeah, and almost...

He was rusticated from the National Defence Academy. Because he was hiding puppies under his bed that he rescued. Without telling. Really? So, definitely he was a great animal lover. And maybe

because of that, I got a start. Like today, I have a side... I started. Like today, I have a side, a chip. If that chip is lost, I get vicious.

Like I'm not afraid of a physical fight. I'll fight back. And it happened after COVID-19, in the major time.

I was

standing outside my home home on the road. And the dealership sent a car to test drive. I was looking at it and talking. No doubt, there was an engine in the middle of the road. The car came. I saw the car coming and started honking.

I said, I'm moving. He took out a glass and said, You know, in the English booth, Just because you're a goddamn actor, you think you're God. This is the structured effort.

I don't know what happened. I went up to the car. I opened the door. After opening the door, he started to hold the door. Get out of the car. He got scared and pulled me out.

And when he got up,

I was...

I felt like I was going to hit him. He was younger to me.

But then, he said something about family. He said something about family.

I slapped him.

And he got in his car and left. Is there an angle for this?

Yes, there is.

I have been shot at in the US.

That's a crazy story. We had to defend ourselves. I have been shot at in the US.

In school, yeah.

10th, 11th grade.

I have terrible memory.

I can't take any supplement for that.

Hey! But, yeah, It was a small argument about getting into a club, Between kids. He took out a gun and shot like this. It hit the wall from the side. If it hit 2 inches, I was out.

11th stunt. Our guy is also in the same class, right?

Your class?

School. So, I was out if I hit two inches. Our guy was in the same class, right? Yeah, school.

So, and I think even though I lived in the US atmosphere, there was always a small... I have a certain angle that I prefer to be shown in movies. I shouldn't touch that. If I touch it, I don touches you, it's a bit... I don't care.

And it's not...

And funny thing is...

A small video game zombie... I know it's happening, but my hand doesn't stop. Like I can watch it happen. I don't lose control of myself. I know it's happening. Now that the angle is open, I'll ask a question. I'll hit you.

Actually, I don't follow Reddit in general. But recently, I've been adding a few different perspectives. I'm keeping a distance. You're keeping a distance? I saw one of them.

Wow!

Did you scold him?

I didn't scold him.

There are different opinions, right? I know. Some people... I don't know what he said. You are saying it softly because of the camera. No, no. I am saying it openly. Sir, we will put aside the good things that people generally see. Let's talk about the bad things. He plays a safe game.

He holds safe lines. If you focus on patriotism, it is an easy market. I have seen only a few of these. I have not read much more. I have already got the gist. I will leave it. How do you respond to such an opinion? Do you respond to such opinions anywhere?

No, I don't.

I also believe it's because I am the one who is sitting in front of him and saying those words.

Right.

Actually, yeah. So, that means he doesn't mean it. And even if he means it, he doesn't mean it enough to come and say it to me. He means it to put it as a post. So he is fishing for retweets and comments and likes. 99% of the people here are DPs and names.

So, I think the bigger thing is he is also entitled to his opinion. Democracy, free speech, that's all. He really has that feeling. He it's a feeling of patriotism. But what I'm saying is, before the major, as far as I know, I could be wrong, but as far as I know, as far be there, but there is no authentic war film. Number two, a rumor in distributors, a small agreement is that patriotic films are not played in Telugu.

There is a default. You do it. Yes, the name comes, but it is not as much as a commercial. A Malayali man, born in Kerala, grew up in Bangalore, He was in Delhi, Manesar, fought inabad when he was a captain and he was in Hyderabad at the artillery center. No doubt. But he didn't show it in the movies. What is the

connectivity for an 18 year old in Vizag? What is there to say that he is my brother or my son? And our country, as soon as August 15th comes, we say, Jai Hind, Vande Mataram Janakaram. As soon as that is over, which region, which caste,

which language, which house name, which village, we get all these calculations. So, my greatest achievement is, major pre-release event was nothing but we showed the movie

five days before release. Pre-release event in Sangamsara Theatre, Vizag. For 1800 people. You did 10 premieres, right? Yes, we did that. Throughout the country.

But, for Telugu people, five days before the pre-release event, we showed the movie. With live cameras there. And cameras after the film ended, the cameras are on. That means, any boy or girl holding a mic

and saying the movie is good, I can't do anything.

That's it.

It's gone.

I got them to chant Major Sandeep Unnikrishnan's number.

Crazy.

If anyone says this is safe, okay boss, you're entitled to your opinion. Good response. There is a purpose behind me asking this question. You have been showing a lot of gestures about cancer survivors, cancer victims,

animal shelters. I have seen a lot of photos. How did this start? Man, it all happened after major, bro.

Really.

Before that... BC, AD, they say, right? I think it was before and after major.

All of this?

All that I said?

Yeah.

There's this lovely little girl named Keerthi. She was fighting cancer. She passed away.

Oh.

But she loved me. So, when they said that she was very shy, she couldn't travel, but she wanted to meet me, when I told her name was Keerthi, I left. Where? They came from Narsapur to Rajahmundry, I went to Rajahmundry. How old was she?

She was 6, 4, 7 And you know, I think her meeting just changed my life Because she was giving me gifts She was giving me gifts It made me realize what is important Her mom messaged me the other day, saying that she wrote a book about her.

Oh!

And I want to help push the book. And she had a lot more courage than I do, bro. I don't have the courage that she had. So, when I see things like that, many people don't know, there is a police station in Madhapur,

on the left is Mercedes Benz showroom, and on the right is the police station. That road is fast traffic. So, dogs can be hit by cars, bikes, vehicles. So, whenever I go on that road, I will slow down a bit and look around.

10 times or 2 times, you will see an animal that needs help. So, from there, I have rescued 4 dogs. One dog died. While I was trying to rescue it,

one dog is happy. I couldn't find a home for one dog, so I left it with Anand from Happy Dogs Training School. He said, take care of it, I'll try to look. One dog is in healing right now. And I feel like it's, when I think about all these people, it doesn't make sense to me to meet an actor at a producer's party and, hey, I feel like, what world are are living in a different world. You know, well said.

And if you consider only one, and if you get hit by four dogs with casualties, just imagine if maybe 10% of the viewers are caring about it. Yeah, like some of my friends were saying, if you bite dogs, how many rabies problems? Let's talk statistics.

That's a big debate, right? It's a big debate. I'm a diva in that debate. But my point is, let's talk statistics. How many rabies deaths are there in India? And do you know, how many dogs are killed in every colony in India? So let's talk.

Somewhere, inherently, we have a belief that we are better than other living beings.

How?

Our culture is not like that. Gita did not teach us that. All living beings are equal. That is why we say Goumata. That is why my name is Sesh. My name came from Sesh Nag.

So how can you even assume that you are better than another animal? It's not that, it's the mind that thinks. And you think it is not intelligent because it doesn't talk. But you are not intelligent the way it is. Now, if a giraffe is born, it will walk within one hour.

Can we walk within one hour? So, who is intelligent? There is a lovely saying, if you judge a fish by its ability to run, it doesn't make any sense. So,

in our purview, we fix that animals are better. I have done a podcast with Babu Rao with Nilofer I have done a podcast with Nilofer In that podcast, I casually asked if any social welfare

would work, and something like that came up The point that he told is something I have never heard before

It is a great virtue to donate blood to Thalasseemiya hospital once a day Because after the baby is born, he will die if he does not donate blood for 15 to 20 days.

We are in the media front and we hear something somewhere. I have never heard of such a thing. There is a thing called Thalassemia. I was shocked. How many people are suffering because of it? How much is the recovery rate for it?

How much effort is put in? how many blood donations are made, what kind of care is taken to recover. Recently, I told you, there is a reason. Almost one year back, not one year, nine months back, I've been to Delhi, where I met someone who was mentioning about certain

stem cells, and generally, stem cells come in two sides. It is possible and not possible, according to the technology. But when I heard that, for people with blood cancers or blood disorders, stem cells, I think HLA matches, I wrote it also,

yeah, HLA matches with 1 out of 10 lakhs people. Literally, if you register 10 lakhs people, it matches with 1. In such statistics, lakh people register, it will match one person. In such statistics, many people are playing games. Yes. There, I got to know about this one global NGO, DKMS. I liked their intention. I have

been going through their social media and all. And a process, I have registered, maybe it will come this week get a kit this week. They did a cheek swab in COVID. You can do that and it's very easy to scan and send it back. It's not even a rupee expense. In case it matches with us, if it matches with one in 10 lakhs,

it can be helpful. Exactly. Painless process. Everything is seamless. And again, it's up to their discretion. In case they call you and say, this is the process, you can say no if you don't like it.

And that is what I like the most. Even now, India has 150 crore people, and 2 lakhs of them are underdonors. Because of lack of awareness. Because of lack of knowledge. Or because they don't have that much control.

So I thought... I have heard about your Talasimya in the US. I have heard about it here. For the first time, someone is telling me the word Talasimya. So it's true. Lack of awareness, even for me. Definitely, I should thank Baburao. The way he told, it was so moving.

We have talked about it twice. We have to do something, at least. After that, maybe, I am talking for the first time in a podcast. I have spoken many times when I went out. This went out in our discussion in the podcast. Maybe I thought this is the right way to explain. I will put the details below.

We have a registration, right? Direct registration. We can also add that.

Yeah.

If anyone is interested in this, and if you want to know more, we are putting the link in the description below, we are putting the link. Any day it's better to be a part of something meaningful, right? So make sure you're going through it. If you like it, enroll and register. You can, you can, I mean, before registering also, you can learn a lot about it.

You can learn about the process and what all happens.

Yeah.

So, I got the context, so I thought I'll have to share it. There was a, recently with Suma to promote Decoyite at her house. She has a lovely chat. Oh, chat show, yeah. So, since it's Decoyite, I put it in a chain. But they didn't have a chain prop.

So, they bought a chain and tied it to my hands. I was doing a fun skit. In that fun, they tied a doggy chain to her.

Oh, okay.

So, I said, this is a dog chain. So, Sushumma said, oh no, she was offended. I thought, I would actually be more offended by handcuffs.

That's what I thought.

It's become so common.

Yeah.

If they think it's offensive No, no, she was caring about how I feel. And then that discussion got me to meet her 14 year old golden retriever. Yeah, I've been there.

Lovely woman. 3 months back she was here. Amazing human being again. Did your episode come out? No, we'll come. I haven't seen this yet. Did your episode come out? No, it will come. I didn't see it. I saw it in the morning.

I was wondering where it was.

I sat here in the middle of the decoy.

We will come.

In this process, whether it is a teaser or a trailer, those are meant to tease and give a trailer of the movie, right? When the teaser came out, I showed you earlier, right? So, now I'm waiting for a copyright strike on it. You do a great job. We'll be happy. I say, so what my question was... So, let's talk about the promotion.

Actually, that's the question. You can put it as a teaser or trailer. That is a deciding factor to an extent, right? I believe that it is a deciding factor even to an extent. I believe that the trailer is the deciding factor to an extent. I believe that the trailer is the deciding factor to an extent. I believe that the trailer is the deciding factor to an extent. I believe that the trailer is the deciding factor to an extent.

I believe that the trailer is the deciding factor to an extent. I believe that the name of the actor.

Sir, how is it? Any changes? He did the same for the major.

he always asks me to send a scene and asks, how is it? Any changes?

he said, Sir, a small gift unwitted. Ah! Oh my god! Look at that. Was this audio selected before?

Eight months back.

everyone in the class made me dance.

So, it was like this feeling of, you know, nostalgia for me.

My first childhood. I don't even remember what standard I was in. But it was that kind of an environment. When I was telling this to Shanil and Supriya,

I thought, why not do it after I found it?

So, it was her idea.

From there, yes.

So, generally, how is this process? Red triangle. Actually, yeah. Red triangle, Annapurna. Got it. You came from there, right? Yeah. Our Decode office is there. Now, if you select a song, an old movie or a cult movie,

you have to use that song, whether you want to use it in a movie or a teaser, for any kind of your promotions. What is the process? What do you do? I don't know that much, bro. Usually producers change the audio labels. But the tricky space in India is this whole IP thing. These laws...

Till maybe 2010, 2015, the producers don't know the laws correctly. So, what belongs to the audio company? What belongs to the producer? What belongs to the lyricist? All these are running in small disputes. What belongs to the music director? Singer? I think there is some clarity.

There is a clarity for the last 10 years. I am not that up to date. We didn't have an issue.

We didn't have an issue.

I am told that Koti sir felt a little. But immediately we said sorry to Koti sir felt it a little. But immediately we said to Koti sir, we are so sorry. We spoke clearly. He goes a long way with Supriya sir and all that. Her first film was also

Koti sir's music. So it was a very good discussion. Nice. I heard a little surprising or funny thing. For the Gudachari movie,

someone from Bangladesh got a lot of feelings and I heard a little surprising or funny thing. For the movie Gudachari,

Yeah.

So, Bangladeshis were very angry that

in the movie, some terrorists are using Bangladesh as a base.

But now, terrorists are using all countries. They used US, India. So, I just, we showed that. Many of them started with 1 star rating. They didn't watch the movie. How can you show Bangladesh?

1 star, 1 star, 1 star. So, before that happened, it was one of the highest rated action films in the world.

Wow.

And suddenly... In the world? Yes, in the world. So, IMDb released a worldwide map list.

From where?

Action films, top rated action films in the world. So, we were the number one action film for India. Unfortunately... You couldn't do anything. So, you filed a complaint. Crowd voted like crowd funded.

It was down to the last. But, I mean... Gudachari is all heart man. I'm waiting for G2. And, there is Emraan Hashmi in that. there is Emraan Hashmi, Vamika.

Vamika. Laughter. Laughter. Laughter.

I mean, Johnny is Vamika.

Do you need a picture time?

Laughter.

Munna. Laughter. I saw a round table earlier. I think it was during your major. You were talking to both the editors and your producer was there beside you. They were talking about linear editing. I remember it well. If I am not wrong, that was the first time I got to know that on-site editing is also possible. I didn't know that.

It's been happening. All films are being shot for 10 years. So, the shooting is ongoing and the editing is ongoing. Yeah, in the US, AI is shooting and editing. Along with that, they will show small temporary VFX with their AI. Like, if we are shooting a VFX heavy film,

they will be like, how can this VFX be broad? Is this color palette okay for you? If this is okay, take shots according to this. So, it's...

Interesting.

But I think as with all things, the more options we increase, the more complications we face. But how is it helping? I mean, because you are editing on the site, will the scraps get trimmed? What would be the process? You know, I feel like

definitely cutting and pacing of a scene is better compared to the 1970s. But, in this technological game, I feel sincere that we are sidelining the storytelling.

Okay.

And there was one lovely article I read about Billboard Top 100 Music Artists. So, Billboard has been having a Billboard chart of Top 100 albums every week for the past 50 years. So, for the first time,

the average age of Billboard artist is not 25 or 26.

It's 37.

Okay. The reason for that is...

So, what does that mean?

The sub stack essay says that

new filmmakers, new actors,

they don't have staying power. Correct. So, it should shift.

So, they can't do this if it's too difficult.

Correct. I am not thinking about online editing.

I have shot this shot as well. So,

So, average age 37 musicians, Why this happened is, Our generation batch is dominating. Because we are the last generation that is both analog and digital.

Right.

That means,

We can take a pencil and print an audio cassette. We know VCDs, DVDs, MP3s. You know, going to the landmark. Many people have seen it. Yes, going to the landmark to buy a CD. We know how to do piracy in Napster.

LimeWire. All that. You see that whole thing and now you come to this whole... You don't have to download the song, just listen to it on Wink. Right, right. Very true. And he said some logic,

he said linear editing. Actually, editing and... Basically, most of us know, director, producer, actor, actress, villain. It's been 5 days till now. When technicians come out, what is the importance of lighting?

What is the importance of cinematography during production? In post production, editing, sound, all these are understood one by one. But in this podcast specifically, I wanted to ask you about editing and its importance. Let's put it aside for on-site. Post production, when you you mean everyone said cooked about the teaser? I got it.

Tell me.

So, we can talk about that. How do you edit? You are going to be a master class by now. You know, I think... Do you edit, actually? I have a good sense of it.

I have a very good sense of editing, I feel. But, the brilliance that comes when Vinay, what he did with Major and PK originally came as an online editor. If you edit on the set temporarily, Vinay will edit the main and he came to Major as PK. His ideas are so good that along with Vinay, we made him the main editor for Major. And now PK is the single card main editor for Gudachari 2 and for Decode. Oh, crazy.

So, you know, very once in a generation rare talents, Vinay and PK. And I think, I make mistakes in broad storytelling. But actually, bringing out of the box ideas and giving it, I think that's where a true director and a true editor comes into play. We are in an era where classical storytelling is being used. That's good too.

Almost like sambar rice at home. It's always the same. Say something new. So, I feel like... They have the edge in that. They have the cutting edge. It's extraordinary.

And... For example... When we were making the Decoy announcement... We were discussing with Shanil about the music... You know, some dark music... Whatever...

And Shanil randomly one day,

Gum, gum, gum, gum, gum,

He brought it with a very crazy music. And that's an international audio company in LA, The music they made. Right. We were struggling for six months to buy it. So, in the movie...

So, they don't respond or accept? I mean, they have first respond or accept? I mean, they don't respond at first. After responding, there are negotiations, costs, etc. And, you know, we bought the music. How to use that music in the movie. You know, so it was a very interesting space,

which would not have been possible pre-internet.

Amazing.

So, I think you have to constantly look at... How can you tell something that is a new thing. That's the thing. Because if you look at the 90s, songs for every movie went to New Zealand. They went to Switzerland.

Correct.

Because the visuals we didn't see. If I take my phone like this today, I can see the Norway glacier.

Correct.

So...

What's new in that?

I don't know about the visuals. I don't know glacier. Correct. So, What's new in that?

I don't know about visual, I don't know about craft, I just don't know.

Right.

That's why if you suddenly watch, the music video which is shot big won't have 400 million views. It will be very casual, maybe in a room. You said about Sreecharan,

about the composer, is it about major movie or a Gudachari movie. He's done both. He specifically talked about silence in one scene. When you were talking to DSP, he was speaking about how it's important to keep the BGM in place. Where to keep it and where to keep it. Let's talk about this power of silence.

If you can talk about it. In editing, anywhere. I noticed that in Bharatane, that was a beautiful moment. With Antarkanna Suddhi, in that discussion. So, the reporter countered and Mahesh sir walked slowly. And at that time, you can tell that the mixer, DTS mixer, the Dolby mixer, slowly brought everything down.

Even if there is a crowd, you can't hear anything. Just you hear his footstep, he comes very close to the mic and he says it. The moment he says, As soon as he says, Ding, ta, ting, ting, ting, ting, ting. A high came to hit that beat.

Right. So, to get a 20 second silence. Very true.

So, I'm a big believer in that.

You know, the idea that silence sets up anticipation.

Actually, yeah. And that's not just in music. I've seen the great actors do it.

Yeah.

When they talk,

Correct.

Because you see they're doing something.

In Hindi, it's called Theraav.

Theraavu antar. Theraavu? Okay. Theraavu. Usme jo theraavu aina. So, a idea nak bhai istam. And we use that a lot. You know, for example in Gudachari, you know, Khan anna character Madhushalini chithagabad astra. Right. Tapata pata bol kahan kahan kahan bol ante. You know. And, but inka ammai mattam completely And the girl's face was completely shattered. He was standing like this. I said, go. And as the camera turns, the music started playing slowly.

So that is a good example of Therav. In your experience and acting, how much of acting is innate? How much is natural and how much is with hard work? Acting is a craft. I think other than the technical crafts like cinematography, editing, lighting, photography, you know, other such things. All of them are more natural than technical.

And you can use technique to enhance your natural talent. Without natural talent, no matter how many acting classes you take, no matter how much talent you have, it won't work. Whereas cinematographer may be... Even if you don't get such a big frame, you can learn it. Whereas acting is not necessarily something you can learn if you don't have it. We need to have the matter.

We can enhance that matter. I think acting is one of those crafts. Because it is done with the heart.

Right.

You know. And what's done with the heart. Right. You know.

And what's interesting about acting is... We now say, okay, let's be professional, not emotional. In the corporate world, in a hospital or an IT company. Let's be professional. Let's put our emotions aside and talk. I am in a profession where you won't agree unless I put my emotions on the table.

100 percent. Where you won't agree unless I put my emotions on the table. 100%. That's why they call actors as moody.

Because,

it's our job to bring out our emotions and immerse ourselves in them. It's our job. It's because they see us, like us, and support us.

Right.

So, it's just like this idea of, if I can immerse myself in it, then you'll believe that I'm an actor. I observed this. I thought a lot about why they say 3D. Because, no matter who it is, they are silent. On set is different.

In general, I keep meeting actors, I can see that they're very composed. Though they are very energetic on the set or in front of the screen. I was having that in mind. I noticed it with Mrunal. In Decoy, with Mrunal... ...we were shooting near Kondapochamma Dam.

A big field. Very, very intense dark scene. 3 in the morning. We were all tired. We were closing our eyes. Pranay came.

And, you know...

Keep in mind, I'm also the writer of the film.

Correct.

So, Pranay was explaining to me how to do the scene. I was explaining the dialogue to him.

Okay.

While explaining, he was like... He was in a mood. I'm saying whatever dialogue I say on the scene. Okay. Umm... Umm... Umm...

Umm...

Umm...

Umm...

Umm... She has digested those three emotions and absorbed them. And she is feeling it even when she is talking without acting. The moment we cut, the moment she packed up, the next morning when we spoke, she didn't even realize that she was so calm and pleasant. And it was a beautiful example of just how natural an actor she is.

But I often feel that the greater an actor, the more different different moods love. Correct. How much of your writing helps you? Basically you write dialogues right?

No.

You are not writing? Maybe I write rough dialogues. Aburi Ravi sir is my Guru. He is… Oh yeah, you also said about multiple movies and what not. Yeah, yeah.

Panja, Kshanam, Gudachari, Yavaru, Major, Decoit, Gudacharit. Right, right. Seven films between us. He is my Guru, my life mentor. He is my guru, my life mentor. We have given a new title as script guidance. Because when we write a script,

he guides us saying, maybe this is not correct, this is good. Without hurting myself.

And he writes the dialogues. I'm guiding him on which one is better. Without hurting myself. Got it.

And he writes the dialogues. So, the remarkable thing about his dialogues is that it is our collaboration. There are 7 collaborations. In our collaborations, we don't know that the characters are

talking in dialogues. What he always says is that you can write what you can on a page in a paragraph. You can say what you can write in a page, in a paragraph, you can say what you can say in a paragraph, in a word, and you can show what you can say in a word with a glance. Many people may not know the importance of writing,

because they don't understand the writing pattern, when we all are talking, we should talk about the importance of writing. The director, producer, everyone is ignoring it. How much does it impact? Director, producer, everyone put aside. How much does it impact the actors? A good writing, what can it do to the presentation of the actor? I heard that you write the atmosphere more. I heard that you focus more on the environment and not on whether it is right or not.

But what do you think about it? I think, see people don't realize. In Ola, when you have a cup of tea, 4 guys talk. Dude, the hero says this dialogue. The dialogue is not the hero's, it's the writer's. The hero delivered it. He would have seen us first. Yeah. Visualizing. And many times, especially when writing for big heroes, I mean, once upon a time, those two eyes for Telugu cinema,

then four pillars, now those six. Whatever it may be, for those in that layer, when writing for dialogue writers, they understand them and write. Because they get restricted by the image they have.

Right.

If they have certain mannerisms, the audience won't accept it. Correct. So the dialogue writer understands and visualizes, and checks if these words suit him. And not just for one actor, you have to think and visualize and expect.

Yeah, I mean, if you write for one hero, it won't work for another. If you take for example, my approach to acting and someone like Sidhu's approach to acting, this is just polar opposites. I am very preparation, methodical, thorough, right? And he is very spontaneous, impulsive. Something is going to happen.

And maybe the same thing, I have never worked with him. But I am assuming, every take will be new. I will have a warm up. Maybe my second take will be better than my first take. My fourth take take is better than my second take. My second take is better than my fourth take. I build it with a graph.

So, it's a very different way of... What's your position now? You can't sleep well. Situation is not good. Yesterday, you were hospitalized. It's okay to be hospitalized.

But you couldn't move in time.

Yes. How are the last countdown days? Yesterday, it was okay to get hospitalized. But, it was okay to get a time key and a movie.

How do you feel about the last countdown days? Everyone felt differently. Some people said, we did the movie like a family. Some people said, the song will be released at this time. And, the deadline will be missed. And, for people like me Usually the release date changes.

That happened here too. That happened and it happened for the major too. But, quality shouldn't suffer is an unbearable matter. So, checking once a thousand times and being careful.

And just to do it right, do it great. And there are two films here, right?

Yes.

Proper true blue Telugu film, proper true blue Hindi film. So, director is not Telugu. So, Telugu is our meter, Hindi is his meter. Oh! So, he is my best friend.

Right, right.

So,

What exactly is true blue? True blue is just like a rhyming. As if to say... Genuine, authentic.

Okay.

Don't ask me what genuine means. Your dialect is also from Madhya Pradesh, right?

What about Hindi?

Hindi is normal Hindi. I mean...

I mean... I watched that film, Padman.

The original story of Padman was shot in Tamil Nadu.

But the point is, the film itself happened in Madhya Pradesh, Bhopal. I felt that. I felt that I shouldn't our story be told in Hindi? In Madanpalli, on the way to Bangalore from Madanpalli.

And the characters are speaking in Hindi.

So, if they speak in Bhojpuri, Haryanvi, Lucknowi Hindi,

it will be a variety, so I speak in Neutral Hindi. Right.

So, April 10th?

April 10th, it is April 10th this summer. Get ready for the action adventure of a lifetime.

I'm sorry.

I said it in your Telugu accent. Lakshmi Ganapathi Films.

Dekhite.

Oka Prema Katha.

Prema Katha? DECK HEIGHT! A love story Love story? You wrote an action thriller right? No, it's actually a love story My first love story In your movies? I mean, back then

But no It's my first love story as a film And You know, I went for the twist and the feelings There are twists a film and you know twist kind of feelings with equal damage sir. They enter twist like when they enter

and twist will not be there. Thriller will be there. Thriller will be there. Thriller and thrill have a lot of difference. Thriller has a word. That means seeing love story and getting thrilled is different.

Thriller and getting thrilled is different. Okay. So I feel action cinema language love story is different. Really you didn't sleep the last 3 days?

No, I haven't.

Really? Can you? I'm averaging 4 hours, 3 hours. Recently I was lucky, I slept for 4 and a half hours. How do you maintain your health in these situations, extreme conditions? Actually, how do you ask such a question? What is your beauty regimen?

Which products do you use? I just need to get a good house and food. You said you wanted coffee. I thought you wanted black coffee. But I could understand. Maybe you are not in control.

I am actually a sugar baby. I am not saying I am a sugar baby. I have a sweet tooth. If I wasn't an actor, I would have been so happy with the sofa that I am sharing with you.

I would have been proud. I would have been happy. They told me to grow up like a water buffalo. But I didn't. So, I did maintenance and body work. You have to do it.

Whenever you see me, I'm always very fit for the film. I get relaxed in between the films. How's the detox again? There's no detox. I mean, no drink.

No smoke.

Not at all?

Not at all.

Oh, nice.

No non-veg. Not non-veg, right? No non-veg. No garam masala. Don't think there's any taste in life. There's a lot. But what's in veg?

Can I bring a detour? A detour. The detour is, we got all this spicy stuff from Portugal. From South America. We didn't have chillies.

So, there's that spicy stuff spice. But that's not ours. Is it? That's why in our pooja books, they don't say, put some spice. So, I'm true Indian. But you have been doing pooja for 2 hours and 8 hours. I can't eat spicy and spicy food. You said you had an injury, right? Was it because of that? Yeah. What happened?

So it was an action scene. A big cellar, a proper running action scene. Me and Rudral were doing it very carefully. The whole action scene was done. Thank God, just the last walking shot, a small emotional look,

I have to take a cue like I'm holding her.

Okay.

We already took the cue. Just take a cue. Okay. I had already taken the cue. Just take a cue. I said, no, method acting. I took her, walked, held her, fell and dropped her. What happened to her and you? I know, at this time,

all the Brunal admirers are going to drop me.

But, yeah,

luckily, she came to the shoot smiling the next day. What was your situation? My situation was, I smiled, but it was not good. How long? We were walking with a blindfold.

How long was yours?

Mine was 4-5 months. It was a PCL tear. So, the funny thing is, I didn't know that a body would have a PCL until I got a tear. Same for me. I didn't have a tear, it was just PCL tear. So, funny thing is, I didn't know that a body has PCL until it tears. Same for me. I didn't know about tear, I just had a brain. I heard about ACL. For athletes, ACL tear, ACL.

Very common, yeah. I heard about ACL, IPL, ACL, but I didn't know about PCL. What is PCL? So, it's just the back ligament. I think the ligament season is going on. It's the same in our office. I learned the word legament.

But how do you know? I'm okay. I can't walk yet. But I can walk. Most importantly, I can dance. Actually, my song is coming out tomorrow.

Let me show you.

Can you get my phone? I want to show him my little clip. I'll get my phone. Very subtly. No, seriously I want to show it. Call and pause it, no issue.

But I wanted to show you. I danced, I had fun. Amazing. Chichu Buddhi song. Your cameraman. He asked me earlier.

He asked if you brought't bring Jonitha Gandhi No, my friend told me that Jonitha Gandhi and Nuna Thakur are coming to the shoot They are coming directly from Presbyter We are waiting since morning Why didn't you put 3 mics? I knew it by then

Oh yeah, I'll show you

Is it ok?

Can I bring 2 mics?

How long do you have?

How long did you take?

You're like that again.

I have a flight in the morning.

They'll beat me.

I'm going to Gorakhpur.

I'm Bhojpuri King Pawan Singh.

We are launching our...

One minute. Look. Look at one side. Yeah. Sure?

He's talking to himself.

He's the only one who came out of the room. Yeah.

We are in the peak internet era. People are on their phones watching us watch the phones. I can see all the new colors in this.

Genuinely good.

Thank you.

I am telling you because you are here.

Nice.

Amazing.

I can see all the new colors.

Genuinely, I can see it very seriously.

We wanted to have fun. I mean, it is difficult for us to play floor dance. So, I wanted to have fun. So, we created a character for Jonitha. She is a queen. I will not make it a song.

Tell me my character. You are a queen. You are in an illegal place. Police are going to come to that illegal place. You don't know that. We don't know that a storm is going to come.

In such a time, you are having fun and your entry is coming out of a drum. Crazy. Drum? What is a drum? First, she thought it was an instrumental drum. Not that drum.

So, you know. What she said is, nothing too glamorous. I said, nothing is too glamorous, right? I said, it won't be like that. If you cut it... But the cool thing is,

I think she embraced it. Because, you know, she... We enjoyed it, right? So, she was also able to look at it from a place of fun. You know, there are many girls in the set. There are boys. You know, Supriya, the producer of the film,

personally took care of her costume. So, it's all very collaborative. Pavan Singh came. And how Pavan Singh is, I don't know. All the security guards in the film Eluminum Factory are from UP.

Aha!

So, we all said we are heroes and said, sir, sir, sir, sir. Like the king. So, we all said we wanted to be heroes and put an element. I think he is a child celebrity, child prodigy. He has been performing on stage since he was 7 years old.

So, you grow up in front of the world. Whether we agree or not, everything gets hyper exploited.

That's a different world.

We went and...

When we went to meet, there were four land cruisers at the airport. One of them was a Y category security. Gunman with proper MP5 weapons. I think that magazine is called Major Cinema. I was casually having a conversation with them. These were like proper uniformed guards.

Four cars.

I was like, where are we?

I felt like I was in a movie.

You were escorted. Yeah, proper escort. Y category security. We went to his house. Very, very sweet, man.

Crazy.

Another talk. Since you don't drink, when you come to parties, do you get invited to parties if an actor or someone says something, they come out and tell you. Do you think they'd call you to the party?

Yeah, Rana said this.

Did he say that?

He calls for festivals, but he calls for parties. If secrets come out. It's a bomb. So, generally, when we get big opportunities, based on our observation skills, we learn a lot. You kept talking about Bahubali's opportunity.

When you're in such a lot, right? You kept talking about Bahubali's opportunity. When you were in such a set, because you also mentioned that you are a good actor, great writer and a bad director.

So in that sense...

Nice catch, right?

That's good writing right there. So in this collective effort, in the collective artistic thought process, what do you observe when you are on a set? Or what did you carry out of that set? I think Bahubali is a great example of a common goal.

For every person on that set, from makeup artist to Rajamouli sir, everyone has a goal that the film should be amazing. And I think that mattered a lot. Many a times, a film doesn't have a common goal. And my maturity learning is, apart from having a common goal,

there should be a common work pattern. If we have a working style and they have a working style, it won't work. If both have the same working style, but the goal is different, it won't work.

Only when both are there, it will work. When these two are there, it's a film.

Makes sense, yeah. New learning.

Yeah.

I saw a post on your Twitter. 1.0, 2.0, 3.0, even the definitions.

Yes.

Help is repeated for me. It's good actually. 1.0 was the American kid. Indian soul, American manners, American mannerisms. He came with dreams. Square peg in a round hole, right? He didn't fit in.

When that Indian kid came here, when that American kid came here, Americans might not give you the impression that you are Indian, Indians might not give you the impression that you are American. So that's one point. Two point O was... a grounding. I understood what I was.

I wanted to introduce myself to you. 1.0, I don't know what I am. 2.0, I know what I am. 3.0, you know what I am.

You know? I know.

Creative rampage? 2.0, I know what I am. You know it. Yes, I know. Is there a creative rampage? I don't know about that. I know what 2.0 is. You know what 3.0 is. I think that's really the... Got it.

Now, generally, as an audience... Of course, I am not into... I mean, not too much movie, movie, movie, arts. I watch a lot of movies. I pay more attention to technical details. So, I say movies are movies. But, I am not good at technicalities.

I get curious questions. In that, I wanted to ask you. In your previous movies, you sold language rights to a couple of movies. Yes, it was made in 5 or 6 languages. How does it matter?

What happens when you are involved and you get the rights in that language? You get the money and you get to work. What happens? What is the process? I think all film things are what was agreed upon. Sometimes,

you have to guide a little.

While agreeing.

Sometimes, when we sell, they will be like, you didn't go to shoot this movie without our approval. If you are doing adaptation and not remaking, it's a different story.

What was Kshanam?

Kshanam was a remake but it was also an adaptation. Baghi 2, till date Tiger Shroff's biggest hit. But Kshanam as a true blue thriller, Baghi 2 is sort of a more mainstream masala thriller.

Okay.

I mean, in that, he's an army officer, he can fight. What am I? Again, more like my one point, fish out of the water concept. I can handle anyone. So, I think,

when you see that, they are very intelligent people. They spent 250 crores for that movie.

Wow!

There is obviously, I understood two things from that. The value of an idea is so important, and maximizing that idea is also important. It is so important to maximize that idea. They maximized it. The idea is mine.

You need to understand the potential of that too. So, ok, there is potential in our idea. Nice. Since then, I have not sold movies in Hindi. You are not intelligent. So, I did major in Hindi.

Decoyed now. We shot it in Hindi. Dekhoite now... We shot it in Hindi. You are also the dubbing, right?

Yes.

Many people get confused with dubbing. I spoke the dialogues in Hindi in the film.

Right.

But we shot it in Hindi. We didn't dub.

Okay.

We shot the film in two separate languages. The reason for that is... Dekhoite is kind of... The visual aesthetic is like a cowboy film. Roads, roads, railings, guns, bullets, fire. Everything is there except for the cowboy hats. So, if you see those cowboy films, there will be a huge wide shot.

Immediately, the cowboy is watching. So, when there is a huge wide shot. Immediately tight, like this. He is looking like this. So, when there is a shot this tight, There is no realistic, right? Yes. When you say lips, they will add South Indian movies

in this. I didn't want that.

Got it.

It should look genuine. For a Telugu person, it should look like our movie. For a Hindi person, it should feel like our film. For a Hindi person, it should feel like our film. But in almost 100% of the shoot, 60% is shot again, right? Other than your driving shots or establishment shots,

every shot is twice. But also, treatment of the scene is different. For example, Chichibuddi vs Touchbuddi. Chichibuddi is for Telugu people. Few Telugu people know Pawan Singh and few don't.

So we put a card for Pawan Singh. Special appearance. And made him speak in Telugu.

I saw this.

He sang Touch buddy.

So,

the way he spoke to me was completely different. And he sang the whole song. So, the vibe was different. The way he spoke is completely different. And she sang the whole song. So, the vibe is different. The way she talks is different. And, the length of the song also changes a bit.

And this is a small example. The big examples are especially in the matter of humour, in the matter of metaphors, like, the crow kisses the crow. There are such similarities, right?

You can't say the same thing in Hindi. That's right. The writing has to be different. The writing has to be different, but if the reactions change, the treatment changes.

So in that sense, we were very careful

to make sure, you know,

Indian soul, American making. Because, Shanil's background in the US, her style of cutting, cooked. But, actually, dubbing, even for some actors and actresses,

if the language is not there, even for recent works, I saw it in a round table, ABCD, ABCD, 1, 2, 3, 4, 1, 2, 3, 4, I read it saying that lip movement, lip sync, they do it for that. I mean, I saw it in a round table. ABCD ABCD 1234 1234 I read it as if they are doing it for lip sync. I mean I saw it.

True, but that was a long time ago. Now they have stopped it. And also, what they say now is it makes for a fun headline. The truth is, there is a lot of firsts for a movie like this. A person like Anurag Kashyap,

he spoke in Telugu in this film. He didn't sing. So, when he spoke in Telugu, we were dubbing with other people. But still, he wrote every sentence in Hindi and practiced it. At the same time, this was Sunil's first straight Hindi film. So, he wrote every sentence in Hindi and practiced it. Hindi words in Telugu and then translated into Hindi. And what we did was... Sunil's voice has a certain fun. Even if he's serious or funny, it's fun.

To avoid that fun, we... He has a Hindi dubbing artist. We searched for it very closely. We used a little AI. We brought the Sunil-ness to the Hindi version. If you write an original one.

And now, the topic about Anuraag sir, how is it working with him? Heard a lot about him. He's an extraordinary man. Again, in this internet era, we speak very carefully. He's not careful.

Oh!

He talks like a 5 year old unfiltered. I don't like it. I am hungry. I am bored. I am sleepy. Let's go. He is that beautifully honest. And when we understood that, we were just... It was a beautiful surprise for us.

So, when a person is so unfiltered, zero egos. And, I've said this in many interviews, what I mean is, our Hindi writing, at one point, we would ask him, how is this, sir?

Is this better? So, an amazing Hindi writer and director is guiding us on our Hindi also,

for free.

So, perks of working with him. Perks of working with him. He doesn't agree, but he knows he's a great actor. This is a great actor for him. I've seen you in that frame many times. In the last scene, you hum and sing in Hindi. I know the films of Gen Z, but the funniest thing is

there are Gen Alpha kids, they say, Oh Maharaja villain. Hey, dude, he shot Black Friday, he shot Devdi, he shot Vaseepur, you know, and some several other classics also. So I and what he brought to the table in terms of his view on life was beautiful. He said no to Alejandro Inarritu's film, Tom Cruise's hero, Digger.

He said no to that film, one of the lead roles. He also said that if Irrfan Khan was there, he would have got the role. He said no, for two reasons. One, his daughter's wedding. And he said no to that are two reasons for that. One, his daughter's wedding. And he said no to that and is doing our film. Crazy.

And sir, how does this work? That's Academy Award winners. It's just a movie. So, he doesn't have any lack of prejudice. He doesn't have to speak in English or Telugu. If he likes what you say, he'll do it with you.

Crazy. That's beautiful. And one more thing. When I saw the poster in your movie, unfortunately, this is just my opinion, in our industry, it's more of male domination.

First, Mrunal's name.

My name on the poster came first. I was like, Shesh, don't you want to like switch that? He said, no.

I liked it a lot. We had a 5-10 minute discussion. What must be your thought process? Generally, lead actors, if it's a hero, there's a time limit, right?

How long will it take to say no? Or how long will it take for you to manipulate? When you think thinking about what would be the best way to do that... What made you place her in the first line? I have always been that. Particularly... For example, if you see...

If you see the credits... Aadhaar Sharma featuring voice dubbing by Veena Ghantasala Unless there is a specific request from an actor saying... Don't put my dubbing artist's name... My credit will be lost. If you want, you can put his card anywhere.

I try to do that. So, I have always been very democratic in terms of credit. And, small detour. To give you a sense of, I don't know much about India. At one time, for a moment, there was this lovely kid, Seenu, who was working for the film. I told him, I'll give you a credit for putting Seenu in your name.

He asked me, who is Seenu? I said, give me something, tell me his name. He said, no sir. I didn't know what he meant by that. And, those unsaid things... Can we talk about that? No sir, please don't. I don't know what he meant by that. And Those unsaid things...

Can we talk about that? What was it?

It's caste.

You don't want that to come out. And I don't know. My privilege was hidden from me. My US upbringing was hidden from me. So, let's do one thing, Seenu. Tell me your initials.

Okay.

Because, someone... My problem is that he should have credit. He should have credit for what he did. He deserves it. So, Senu means... In the railway station, if you say Senu, Seshu,

suddenly 100 people write. Not like that. One P, one R, tell me something. I put it. So I've always been that guy who gives credit and when I saw what Mrunal was bringing to the table, I was like, a love story. Love story is two. Two just as important. I am fire, he is soul. When these two of us clash, a beautiful explosion happens in the film.

So, for me it felt like she is not doing my film, we are doing the film together. So, I joked a couple of times, because Murali is such a busy actor, you know, she is doing other films. So yeah, I'll be there on your film on that date and phone and our film, not yours. I connected with her once or twice. But she really brought something to the table. Me, Shanil, Orozu. Recently, when the edit finals were going on, I was watching something she did with her eyes. So beautiful. She has a default empathy in her eyes. A small...

We get sympathy when we see her. Right. And that was quite beautiful. So I'm very proud that we credited her. As she deserves it. There's no...

We didn't do anything. No second thought. So generally, Some actresses have a streak. Back to back hits, super hits, blockbusters, there's a small batch of them.

Minimum guarantee actor. You've mentioned something like this in a stage show. I wanted to ask you, if you get a minimum guarantee actor, it'll work, you'll get paid. Do you consider it as a compliment or it's a feeling to be worked upon?

I want to be a maximum guarantee actor. And that's my thing, my gear. But it doesn't come from a place of arrogance. It comes from a place of what is minimum?

Because, heartfully, no matter which actor you ask, the amount of work you want to see in your action, it is not that much. So, what is minimum? There is a reduction in the word minimum. So, there is no minimum. We want to try and make the best film possible for the most number of people possible.

You said earlier, if you get 100 scripts in an industry, if you get 95 good, if you get 3 or more out of 5, if you get more than that, you get stardom, if you get high budget movies, if you get the rest, something like that you mentioned. I felt then, you found your place. But what do you feel about this?

And where are we going to see you in the future? I think I have changed since I said that. I feel so. I think it was the last leg of the race between actor and feeling. Really? Because, there's this lovely Chris Rock quote.

When he was hosting the Oscars, he said, Why do they have best actor and best actress category? Does Robert De Niro slow down his acting so that Meryl Streep will catch up? So, why is it best actor and best actress? It should be the best performance, right? He was making a joke about it. So, in this, I think art in itself is not a race.

Right.

And we get what we deserve. Today, I realized that... If I announce a movie today, producer, theatrical rights, OTT rights, audio rights, overseas rights will be sold. How lucky is that? Very lucky. Maybe there are 150 people in India.

Out of 150 crores of people, there are 150 people. What am I thinking, whether I am in 1, 10 or 30 among them? I feel that's narcissism. In fact, there was this actor,

I won't name him, but I met him at my producer's birthday. So, he said, when are you making a film as big as mine?

In small...

In Telugu... I said, I'll tell you what he said in Telugu and you'll know. So, I said it in English, a paraphrasing translation. I thought, you're a fool. I mean, it's a measuring contest. Like, is it me or you?

And what I got was... If I want to be the best among all the young heroes, there are six big heroes. If I want to be the best among them, there is Rajinikanth, Chiranjeevi. If I want to be the best among them, there is King Khan. If I want to be the best among them, there is Tom Cruise.

And if I get a life in Mars, there will be others there. So, I just mean like, what are you trying to compete against?

Nice.

You only try to appease to your ego. For whom? And the funny thing is, And I got the flow, I didn't even plan, I did a film event rap, I did a plan it. We did a press meet for the film event wrap.

And I said, nobody remembers how much Maya Bazaar collected. How much? How much Sholay collected. And as usual, some people immediately said, you are shooting a big Maya Bazaar.

Okay, I get it.

You are hiding your, I get it.

You are hiding your phone behind your back, you tweeted it, super.

But,

the purpose behind it is, how much I earn from Decoy, how many people like it, that is my attempt.

And,

the surefire metric for that is box office collection. But I am not, even if I am showing a box office collection poster It's not because I am saying You know it's not that

I am just trying to get as an artist As many people as possible To love my art That's really what it is And you know I am just Looking forward to see what happens

But among such actors or producers Who showed that on face comparison, do you feel like I don't belong to this place? Do you ever feel like you don't belong? No, because some people get NRIs. I'm telling you the truth, the film industry is so humbling that we all NRIs, as soon as we come we get a job. We get a job with a smile. Here's how you make movies.

We get a job with that smile. In 6 months, we spend all our money. We go to work urgently. I have to do an IT job. I have to get a job again.

I have to come back.

I have seen so many examiners. Film is so humbling. To be in this industry, you need to have a madness. Because as a business model, cinema does not make sense.

If you think that this year's movies are a hit, only 12% of the movies break even.

Break even?

Break even.

The money you invested is there. 12%. In the 100 movies released, 88 movies lost money. If this year's year is not good, then 7% success rate. You tell me what industry...

How can it be an industry that makes sense? Because we are all in this industry because of the madness. Because we love it. Once, Arjuve sir said, Cinema is a hit, but it's a flop. Money changes from one person to another.

That's what happens in the industry. That's what he mentioned that day. When he was giving an interview, I felt good. Like the way you told, there is a success ratio of 2%, 3%, 7%, 10% and you know that, you go back with passion,

and come back again. I was like, Shanil, my friend who directed Duck World, he said that he was doing it for a while, and he became a DOP and moved to India. He became a DOP for Gudachari. Oh, he is the one for all three movies, right?

And then, one day he told me, I want to direct. Now, the moment I said, I don't know Hindi, you don't know Telugu. What a situation! That is when this came organically. There is so much about Decode that's authentic because...

Sir, Hindi is a Telugu language. Let's mix it.

So, proper dialogue heavy scene, first, the Hindi actors would have to decide what they wanted. Then I would try one in Telugu and I would try another. Mrunal has the ability to balance two languages. So, like, all of that was happening because there is a certain amount of impractical madness. Correct. He was born in Fiji, bro.

They are not... They are not a batch born and raised in India. They are Indians. But 300-400 years back, the British took them as slaves.

Oh!

Slaves, labor. They took them like that to work in sugarcane plantations.

Hmm.

After 300-400 years, their family moved from Fiji to the US. In the US, we were friends. Hmm. Where did you write all this? And the language they spoke was

Bhojpuri-Telugu-Tamil mix, bro. Hmm. Telugu Tamil mix bro. He says he will eat Murukku. What is Murukku? What will he eat?

I don't understand.

So,

he is a person like that. He has moved to a country he has never been to. Because he loves cinema.

Amazing.

As a business model, it doesn't make sense. So, if someone comes and talks in a startup type, or actually according to the data analytics, I will immediately get tuned off. Because it doesn't make sense.

So you are trying to make sense of something that doesn't make sense. And I sincerely feel that is why many times corporates fail in India.

It makes sense.

In India, I mean in film business. I have seen,

Generally,

For reset, you keep gazing at your objects at your home.

I generally have a habit of wall gazing.

Wall gazing and sky gazing.

Why do you do that?

Because that makes a difference to me.

Absolutely.

Everyday, now, where I am, where I am now, everyday morning, before leaving home, I look at my parents' face, sir. How is your face today? I look at it like that.

I'm scanning.

What are you scanning?

They are here now, right? They have come, right? So, it all comes from that wanting to… Life should not be spent, life should be lived. That's the idea behind it. And I'm terrible at it. I don't have a personal life, a rhythm, a routine.

I wake up, run, come and fall. That's how it is. But the intention is that. In your movies, this action or the complete thriller type, I used to like that a lot. Even from Kshanam. Because of you, I made sure I watched the climax of Kshanam.

Oh.

I liked it. I loved it a lot. I liked it a lot. Suddenly, you came to this love story. Of course, I saw all the robbery and all. But why love story? I think love is always... Are you breaking that pattern?

Definitely. But also love has always been a big part of my film. There was a moment when I was sitting on a love story with the entire film. There was a failed love story in Gudachari. There was a failed love story in Major. You have a decade, right? You have a decade to come out.

In a love story. Yeah.

Sorry. First love. The wounds from 19 years are still there.

She got married on your birthday.

Lucky found out later. She got married a week later. But she still felt like it was her birthday. I thought it was a cruelty. Love was always an important part. But there is always an sir. So, love was always an important part. But now, there is this love and an action.

There is this love and... I felt, what if we tell a love story where the action is part of the love. The love is not part of something else. And... Because...

I like what it makes you feel. I am also in the process of finding a positivity. And the world has become very violent, bro. We are all very angry. We are very angry. So I thought, literally, the movie that started like that,

the movie that started in such a rage, what happens? And it was interesting to me because I and Shananel like good bad and ugly fist full of dollars clint eastwood movies like cowboy films in that world when there are bullets around

how does love happen between the two? between robberies and that too they both they both didn't meet for the first time 13 years there is a journey, 13 years ago, there was a fracture.

Oh!

There was anger on his side. How does that work?

Got it.

So...

This robbery means, it's a series of robberies and etiquette.

How is it?

Watch Decode on April 10th to find out.

Ha ha ha ha!

Oh yeah! It was an amazing conversation. I'm taking a promise. Let's sit together again. Yeah. For another episode. I'm running out of time. I'm leaving you now because I'm tired and sleepy. If you come to the office, you can do jail tour. I've been here for a long time. My cousins were here. Really?

They shifted to the US and stopped coming here. Let's sit together again. I'll come to your house. I'll come to your house. For sure. You saw the jail door outside, right? Yes. Coming inside. When we go out, we need permission. But next time, definitely we'll have to sit.

I don't have enough time. We'll sit again.

Thank you.

Thank you very much. Means a lot. Thankfully, there are no handcuffs here. We'll stop you if you stop us. He might hit us. Thank you, man. Thank you so much. So, guys, once again reminding you, just before ending the podcast, as I said earlier,

if anyone is interested in Stem Cell donation, and if you want to know, and if you want to share it with someone, there is a link in the description below, and all the details are below. And it's no harm to go through it, right?

It's my sincere advice. It's my sincere advice.

Go through it.