Naga Chaitanya is now gearing up for the release of his film ‘Thandel’. It sees him opposite Sai Pallavi. While the film is based on a true story, that of a fisherman in Srikakulam who gets caught by the Pakistan forces in international waters. But in its depth, it’s a love story. During a recent interview with ETimes, while talking about how rooted the film is, Chay also opened up on the whole South Vs Bollywood debate.
When asked if South movies are working more because they are more rooted in culture, as opposed to Hindi movies which are going western, here’s what he said. “I don’t think Hindi films are going western. Infact, there are so many Hindi films which have influenced us.”
He further added, “However, in the south, if you see the trend, the films which are close to stories of the land, rich in culture where the characters have a certain slang, dialect and are working around a certain region are connecting. The audience is more curious towards such stories now and that’s the trend right now, so yes, these stories are travelling much better.”
Chay opines that as far as numbers are concerned, only movies which pay a strong attention to the story and stay true to it are working. “How numbers have become today is that if you need to give people that theatrical or larger-than-life sort of experience then it’s not about investing in who’s the actor or the director. Of course, that’s important but you need to invest in what the script is. That’s how the business has become. Even ‘Thandel’, the producer (Allu Aravind) put aside what my market would fetch or the director’s market would fetch. He put all that aside and concentrated on what the story demands. It’s a very production heavy movie.”
He concluded, “If you see all the films which have done well, the producers have invested in the story rather than working backwards on a trade number.”
