Kona Venkat is eagerly awaiting the release of his upcoming film Sankarabharanam as his future course of action will depend on the film’s outcome.
“A lot depends on the film’s success. I will announce my future course of action after this film releases. I may never work with top stars in the near future as it restricts the writer in me. I am fed up with the regular formula stories that I am giving those stars. That’s the primarily the reason why I started my own production which has given me more freedom as a writer,” says Kona.
“Most stars have a certain image and they want to do the regular formula films and thus we give the same kind of stories,” he says. He, however, agrees that having a star has the advantage of super openings at the box-office. “The minus point is that they can’t do more experiments as they have to keep the fans in mind, so they stick to the formula. That’s why I have come out of the rut and started on my own, which allows me to experiment more,” he says.
He adds that he knows that some day people will reject the subjects that he has been doling out for the last five years. “People are ready to encourage new subjects, as it was proved with Srimanthudu. There are no comic scenes in the film and it runs purely on story and was successful,” he says.
After Sankarabharanam release, Kona only wants to be associated with films where he will have a hand in the production. “Even if the lead actor is a top star, I will only write for them if they include me in the production,” he says.
“I am an emotional person,” he says, adding, “In my earlier films, often what I had written was not there on screen. It is not necessary for the director to take all my dialogues or scenes. But when my name is there in the credits and you are not taking my scenes, it gives me a bad name. So I want to get involved in the production. Only when people accept my condition will I write for their films,” he says.
Talking about Sankarabharanam, he says that the film has a Bihar crime backdrop. “The thought came to me in 1999 when I was working as an executive producer for the Hindi film Shool. No one dared to shoot in Bihar, but I have a friend Sharma Rajan, the SP of Motihari district. I met him and explained the situation and he agreed to provide security. We shot for nearly 25 days there with security. At that time, I got to know about the crime rate in Bihar. Kidnapping was a major industry there and they kidnapped not only people but also important valuables.
I felt excited and wanted to do a film with a Bihar crime backdrop,” says Kona.
“Interestingly these gangs are run by politicians, MLAs and MPs, which is shocking. They earn nearly Rs 20 to Rs 25 crores a year from these crimes,” he says, adding that he had taken a point from the Hindi film Phas Gaya Obama. “I didn’t take the entire story, I liked one point in it. So I brought the rights of that Hindi film for South,” he says.
The writer is also working on a thriller. “Yes, I am preparing a story on the drug racket in Hyderabad.
The city is one of the hubs for drug racketeers and I am planning a thriller on this backdrop. Few days back I met a police officer and I was surprised when he revealed the details. Hundreds of crores of money is changing hands for drugs,” he says.
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