'Balagam' has catapulted producers Harshith Reddy and Hanshitha Reddy to fame. Their debut film under Dil Raju Productions features Priyadarshi, Kavya Kalyanram, Sudhakar Reddy, and others.
At Dil Raju Productions, the duo endeavour to provide a platform for newcomers. "We have set up a team and they are listening to about 40 scripts these days. Ideas@DilRajuProductions is our email ID. You can send your ideas to the ID," the producers said in an interview today. "We are open to all ideas and genres. We are ready to go for bigger actors as well if the script needs them," they added.
Hanshitha Reddy:
We are thoroughly enjoying the success of 'Balagam'. It's a rare success. Sri Venkateswara Creations is into making pan-India and big-ticket movies in Telugu (and occasionally in Hindi and Tamil). My father (Dil Raju) misses the joy of introducing new talents. That's why Dil Raju Productions has been launched. We will be producing commercial films as well on the new banner.
I was there taking part in administration on location and also during the Editing phase of 'Balagam'. The film was never meant to be an OTT release. My father wanted it to be a theatrical release even if it meant taking some calculated risks. It is rare that we have got both fame and money with 'Balagam'. And people are predicting awards as well. Talking about collections (precise figures) is a waste of time.
Our movie is not based on the short story Pachika published in a Telugu daily. The crow element is the only commonality. 'Balagam' is entirely different.
We are making a love story at present. Love stories are more or less the same everywhere in terms of flavour. The difference lies in treatment and screenplay. Nobody can make an out-and-out different love story. Yash Master is its hero. Newcomer Sashi, who wrote dialogues for the Telugu version of 'Love Today', is its director. Fifteen days of shoot are pending.
Director Venu Yeldandi's next film will be produced under Sri Venkateswara Creations. Talents that prove themselves at Dil Raju Productions will be given a fillip at SVC.
Harshith Reddy:
'Balagam' is the kind of film where the incidents are a slice of life. Many scenes in the film, related to death rituals, are everyday happenings. The director captured everything authentically. This response and the commercial range were totally unexpected.
We seek the guidance of Dil Raju garu but the final call is taken by me and Hanshitha. Everyone has an instinct of their own. We listen to suggestions but go by our own judgment.
When Raju garu watched 'Balagam' in a theatre, he felt strongly emotional even though he had watched the movie before its theatrical release. He regards 'Balagam' as a memorable one no matter how many movies we are going to make on Dil Raju Productions. The collections have been far more than expected. The Day 10 collections were more than that of the Day 1.
Cinema has become global. The more local your idea is, the more global it is going to be.
My father is a devotional person who writes devotional songs. He was emotionally moved by 'Balagam'. His appreciation will always be valued by me. We also value the appreciation by Megastar Chiranjeevi garu.
RC15 will resume its shoot on March 19 in Hyderabad. Sixty percent of the shoot is over. It will most probably hit the cinemas for Sankranthi next year. Shankar garu is a nice human being. With him, it becomes easy to plan the scale of the movie. He is meticulous.
