Bollywood star Akshay Kumar has been shown as Lord Shiva in his latest Telugu film ‘Kannappa’ and he is repeating his godly act after tasting success with his Hindi movie ‘Oh My God 2’. “I was blessed by Lord Shiva and I commenced shooting of the film this year, although I was scouting for locations after being impressed with the script of ‘Kannappa’ many years ago, “ says actor-producer Vishnu Manchu after releasing the trailer. "It is a historical film which happened in the 2nd century and not a mythological film. In our extensive research we learned that a disciple offered meat to Lord Shiva in the 7th century in Srisailam and also revered King Krishna Devaraya also honored Shiva Bhakt Kannappa so it's a real-life story,” he added.
Earlier, director Prashanth Varma tasted massive success with ‘HanuMan, which revolved around Lord Hanuman and it looks like Hindu Gods are showering blessings on Tollywood. Even megastar Chiranjeevi’s upcoming movie ‘Vishvambhara’ shows a mighty Hanuman statue in the first look.
Talking about his Rs 100 core blockbuster ‘Hanu Man, new-age director Prashanth Varma says, “I was always eager to make a socio-fantasy movie. It has to be something like a Desi superhero film with songs and stuff. Later, I started writing the script and all I could imagine was Lord Hanuman and it worked wonders.” He also claims that Telugu filmmakers always could churn out mythological movies. “Telugu filmmakers were far ahead and delivered devotional and mythological movies with ease. Telugu makers are adept in dishing out mythology stories engagingly without distorting our culture and traditions," he adds.
Earlier, revered gods like Lord Krishna also became a part of Telugu movies to revive the socio-fantasy genre in a big way. Instead of making usual devotional films around Hindu Gods, new-generation directors are designing them as socio-fantasies to connect with new-generation audiences. Apparently, “Karthikeya 2’ set the box office on fire across India and talked about the mystery of Lord Krishna. “Honestly, I didn’t want to set any trend or intended to change the face of Telugu cinema when I started ‘Karthikeya 2,” says new-age director Chandoo Mondeti, whose ‘Karthikeya 2’ showcased the invincible power of Lord Krishna. “I have always been fascinated with Lord Krishna from my childhood and wondered about his enormous skills. He constructed a city called Dwarka to protect his people from enemies through air or water. Then he designed his weapon-Sudarshan Chakra-which has its salient features to decimate evil forces. I tried to connect various dots between revered scriptures and new-age books and discovered a lot about his immense knowledge,” he adds.
Director Dolly who cast superstar Pawan Kalyan as Lord Krishna in his much-hyped hit 'Gopala Gopala' also minted money at the Telugu box office a few years ago “Pawan Kalyan has the charisma to pull off such roles. Along with his larger-life image, his smile and energetic performance breathed life into the role of Lord Krishna,” he concludes.