A political number-cruncher, Shaikk Mastan, the CEO of Agastya Research and Analysis Agency (AARAA) is all set to foray into production with upcoming suspense thriller Terror.
The man, who works closely with political parties behind-the-scenes of a campaign and conducts surveys before elections, is excited to enter films. "I wanted to make a film on the life of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
However, due to budgetary constraint, it did not materialise. So the same director (Satish Kasetty) decided to make a film on terrorism, I liked the script a lot so decided to venture into production with this," shares Mastan. Touted as an intense suspense thriller, Terror features Srikanth and Nikhita in lead roles. "The film deals with terrorist activities taking place. How police officers deal with the situations, how political leaders respond, what the goal of the terrorists is -- all this is shown in an investigative style in the film," Mastan explains.
The newly-turned producer feels that the biggest USP of terror is the fact that it will be a complete departure from the routine commercial films that the industry churns out regularly. "After a long time, a Telugu film is releasing without any songs in it. It's an experiment. We are prepared for any response from the audience," he says, forthrightly.The film has an interesting twist as Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC) President Uttam Kumar Reddy will be seen in a different avatar, as he will be facing the arc lights for the first time in Terror.
Given his close political ties, Shaikk Mastan wanted to infuse a political angle to his upcoming suspense thriller. "TPCC president Uttam Kumar Reddy will be playing the role of a chief minister in Terror. It's not often that a real life politician is seen in a movie, so we're excited about this," Mastan shares, animatedly.
Calling himself a patriot, Mastan says that he will keep doing more films in the future, and each of it will have a patriotic theme to it. "I am strong believer in doing something for the country, for the nation.
I want to depict the same feeling through films. Even if it is a romantic love story, there will be a patriotic element in my films," he says, passionately. Observing the acceptance of unconventional films in the Telugu film industry in recent times, Mastan now hopes to turn trendsetter with his different brand of filmmaking. "None of my films will have the usual five-songs, fights, comedy and sentiment formula. Instead we'll come up with our own unconventional formula. Around 15-20 days after the release of Terror, I will announce my next project," he signs off. Terror is slated to hit screens on February 26.