Producer TG Vishwa Prasad of People Media Factory is waiting for the theatrical release of 'BRO' on July 28. "My journey with Pawan Kalyan garu has been there for long. It is not necessarily film-related," he says.
In this interview, the producer reveals that the trailer for 'BRO' might be released on July 21 unless VFX works are delayed. The pre-release event will be held on the 25th at Shilpakala Vedika in Hyderabad.
As of now, no paid premieres have been planned in the Telugu States. "Paid premieres have been held only for small and medium films so far. 'BRO' is a big movie. Small films need positive buzz and that's why they probably arrange paid premieres. We don't have to do that for big movies," he says.
It was two years ago that I first resolved to make a film with Pawan Kalyan. The process took time. It was Trivikram's idea that we remake 'Vinodhaya Sitham' in Telugu. For any banner, it is a matter of great prestige to collaborate with Power Star. While this is a remake and a proven subject, it is Trivikram's interest that pushed us to make the film.
The Tamil original was a small-scale movie. The soul of the remake is the same as the original while being more commercial. But the screenplay has been changed a great deal. Given Pawan Kalyan's aura, the impact and span of 'BRO' is going to be different from that of the original. He has got a full-fledged role. He will be there right after his introduction ten minutes into the movie till the end. The commercial elements are strong, the emotions are solid... This is not preachy in its treatment.
The real-life relationship between Pawan Kalyan and Sai Dharam Tej helped matters. The emotions work better due to that and because of the way the characters have been written. Sai Tej was the first choice like the other hero. Samuthirakani did some things he couldn't do while making the Tamil original. VFX works are going on at present.
The budget of 'BRO' was controlled. We are in the profit zone. We are not making any deals that might put distributors at risk. It is not true that the political climate is not favourable toward Pawan's movies. The experience was bad in the case of 'Vakeel Saab' alone. We are not going to request the Andhra Pradesh and Telangana governments for ticket rate hikes and extra shows. That's because we don't need price increases because the budget was planned tight.
I am releasing 'BRO' in the US by myself. That's because I have got hands-on experience in releasing movies there. It's not true that we didn't find buyers in the US. There is no question of a Pawan movie not finding distributors. I don't know the exact status but we might distribute 'BRO' in a territory in Andhra Pradesh.
When asked about the 'Adipurush' experience: All that I can say is that the film received very good openings.
I have had an extraordinary relationship with both Prabhas and Pawan Kalyan. They both are different personalities. With the former, my journey is restricted to cinema. With the latter, it goes beyond. I never try to compare the two personalities.
It is not true that we are taking over other Pawan Kalyan projects. It's merely speculative. I don't know where the speculation came from.
We want to work with all the big heroes in Telugu cinema. My dream is to make a film with Chiranjeevi sir as the hero. I have been his fan since my childhood.
Every movie has got a strategy. We can't talk about everything openly beforehand. My experience says that small films have an element of risk for the producer because the recovery depends on the film's box-office success. With big-hero movies, that's not the case. 'BRO' is our 25th movie. Our aim is to produce 100 movies as early as possible. It has been about five years since we forayed into the industry. By the end of 2024, we will complete the 50-movie mark. About 25-30 more projects are in different stages of planning. I am not stressed out. I believe in data collection and analysis. Once we have the data, learnings about risk areas, etc becomes easy. This is a creative field where the corporate culture can't be replicated in toto. We are creating a content factory where ideas have been incubated for a set of 25 original movies.
We at People Media Factory have a bevy of OTT projects (about 4 or 5) coming up. We are working with multiple OTT platforms simultaneously.
We are associated with Prabhas' 'Spirit' as well (in collaboration with T Series). 'Nishabdham' was done with the aim of popularising the culture of crossover movies.
I have got no interest in politics. I am not going to enter politics at all. I have taken care of some things behind the doors. But I won't take the plunge directly.
