After the successful combination of director Manju Swaraj and actor Ganesh in Shravani Subramanya, producer SV Babu has managed to rope them together for the upcoming remake of the Telugu hit Pataas. Justifying his decision of hiring Manju as the director, Babu reveals, “I had heard about his filmmaking talent. After having a discussion with him, I was quite confident that he will do justice to the project.” Babu plans to roll the film in the month of June.
Speaking about the opportunity to work again with Ganesh, Manju states that their combo works because they understand each other’s wavelengths. “Ganesh creates a lively atmosphere on the sets. Also, we have both maintained our bond for a long time. Our professional relationship goes back to the time when I started out as an assistant director and he was a budding artiste. We were both looking for a good script to work on after Shravani... and this finally came through. I am working towards reprising our earlier success formula in this film as well,” says Manju, who will also take charge of the screenplay and dialogues for the film. The director, who is involved in a remake for the first time, says it is indeed a challenge.
“The foundation of the film might be Pataas but the entire building is ours. We are constructing it in our way and will add our own elements to suit the Kannada context,” he says.
According to the director, Ganesh will be playing the role of an ACP and he has thought of an image makeover for him. “Keeping his regular style in mind, I am trying to bring a change. We have already seen Ganesh as a talkative person and a lover boy in the past. With this role, he will have a mature look which will also justify his mass stature,” says Manju.
Though the title is yet to be finalised, Manju has thought of Gani with the tagline - The Boss. “As of now this will be the tentative title,” he says. Senior actor Sai Kumar is already part of this ensemble star cast which will see about 30 artistes in all. Talks are also on to bring in Bollywood actor Manoj Bajpai for a role. “If the dates work out, he will debut in Sandalwood. Meanwhile, we are also looking for a suitable heroine since we want a new combination for this film,” he says.