Anil Sunkara awaits the release of 'Agent' on April 28. The title was registered more than five years ago by his banner, AK Entertainment. Director Surender Reddy latched onto the title.
In this interview, the 'Sarileru Neekevvaru' producer says that 'Agent' was always destined to be a big-scale movie that would be quite challenging. "As a producer, I am in a happy space on the commercial front. Wrapping up the movie, including post-production, has been a race against time. The producer says that they are doing their best to deliver content overseas on time. This has been my banner's tensest release. Day of release is very important. To give an example, if you have to release a movie for Sankranthi, you have to do it only on that date," the producer says.
Anil Sunkara calls himself a businessman and a film producer who views cinema as a business avenue. "Any sensible producer will want a super-hit at the BO," he adds.
I am both excited and feeling pressure. I am not nervous about the Box-Office result. We have been working non-stop for the past 30 days to ensure a timely release in theatres on April 28. Every unit member has been working day in and day out. It's not like we have been hurrying through. The pressure is because of the big-scale and CGI-heavy nature of 'Agent'. One and a half hour of content has got CG shots.
The span of the film is huge. Spy films are synonymous with action sequences in giant backdrops. The editing table is where a lot of crafting takes place in the case of such films.
The market range of an actor always keeps shifting. Content is what decides a movie's market range.
If the talk is positive, we are going to release 'Agent' in Hindi. The buzz around the movie in Telugu has improved a great deal since last month. Our focus on the Telugu market is helping. April 28th may not be the ideal date for the Hindi market. The Hindi-dubbed version is already ready in the labs. In Telugu, I can't afford to miss April 28th. We don't see 'Ponniyin Selvan 2' as a competitor, as the genres of the two movies are different.
I would only be happy if 'Agent' is compared with James Bond movies even to a small extent. Comparisons are expected given the genre. Describing high-range Indian movies as Hollywoodian is not making much sense these days, though. The boundaries have been blurred.
As far as Akhil is concerned, 'Agent' will be a game-changer. 'Before Agent and After Agent' is how they are going to look at his career. To quote the example of 'Pathaan' (Hindi), those who watched it in a theatre loved it. 'Agent' is a big-screen spectacle like that movie.
Akhil jumped from a tall structure for promotions. I was sceptical. I didn't want him to go for it in any place other than Hyderabad. I wanted the best safety measures to be put in place.
I back movies if I like a script. I leave the execution part to another producer. 'Samajavaragamana' and 'Ooru Peru Bhairavakona' have been made that way. I am going to make some crazy announcements later this year.
I don't want to comment on the IT raids (on a big banner recently). Those producers are my friends. I don't know anything about the raids, though.
'Bholaa Shankar' is turning out well. Working with Chiranjeevi garu is a breeze. We are going to surely release it on August 11. If there are other releases (rumouredly, 'DJ Tillu' and a couple of other releases are going to be there on that date), so be it. Such things happen every Sankranthi, too. Every producer has his best interests in mind.
'Agent' will have a sequel automatically if it becomes a hit. 'Goodachari' was not planned to have a sequel. Adivi Sesh's idea made us go for it.
