I will not cast Ramya in my films: Krishna Vamsi

A few of his films may have failed commercially in the last few years, but Krishna Vamsi has never failed as a director. Every Tollywood artiste wishes to be a part of his films. He follows his own rules of filmmaking, and the 54-year-old is also known for choosing subjects of social and public interest in all his films.

All about Nakshatram
His upcoming film Nakshatram is all set to hit the screens on July 28. Sundeep Kishan, Sai Dharam Tej and Prakash Raj will be seen playing the lead roles in the entertainer. “After a village backdrop and a family film like Govindudu Andari Vadele, I wanted to do a film with a city backdrop, which is in complete contrast, so I chose Nakshatram,” reasons Krishna Vamsi.

The main subject of the action-thriller will be the functioning of the police. “The film addresses a burning issue. If you look at our country, you will find  problems like maoism, factionism and religious terrorism. These groups never manufacture weapons, they only buy; in my film, the top cop gets a clue about it and tries to stop it from happening,” he says.

A still from Nakshatram

It is a well-known fact that Vamsi never writes a story with an actor in mind. And this holds true for Nakshatram as well. “I wanted someone who looks like a middle-class guy, and can act well, so I roped in Sundeep,” he replies.

In many Telugu films recently, the character of police has been depicted either in a comical way or a villainous one. “But after you watch my film, your respect on the police department will go up. I have depicted the society from a police officer’s perspective. Most of the characters are from the police department or closely related to them — the commissioner, a constable’s son who wants to become a sub-inspector, a constable’s daughter and an undercover woman cop,” he says.

Extracting the best
Every actor gives his/her best when it comes to Krishna Vamsi’s films. So does he teach them how to act? “I never teach acting, I just inject the situation, scene, surroundings of the character and then I ask them how they would behave if they were really the person they were playing.  Maybe that’s the reason they are giving good performances,” he says with a smile.

The Familial and Private person
The director doesn’t have many close friends in the industry except Prakash Raj. “Our ideologies and tastes are the same; even our musical taste matches. We both discuss and share many things personally,” says Vamsi, adding that Ram Gopal Varma and Seetharama Sastry are his gurus.

The director stays in Chennai with his family but work often brings him to Hyderabad. And because of this, people assume and write so many things about a split between him and his wife Ramya Krishna. “We laugh at all the rumours. But we do discuss films at home. She watches my films and I watch hers,” he says. 

When questioned about his wife’s performance in Baahubali, he says, “I give credit to the director and writer for making Ramya’s character so amazing and of course, she performed very well,” he says. Vamsi adds that the fact that she is a great actress has already been proved in films like Ammoru and Narasimha. 

So why doesn’t he cast Ramya in his films? “I can’t direct Ramya in my films, because I can’t see her as my artiste, I get personal, so I never cast her in my films,” he says. She acted only in one of his films Chandralekha, but that was before they got married! Their son is currently studying Class VI and Vamsi loves to spend time with him. “As a father  I want to give time to him. Whenever I don’t have work, I am with him,” he says.