Nearly three years after the release of I Love You, Upendra is back to entertain the audience with Home Minister, which is set to hit theatres this Friday ahead of Ugadi festival. And in Uppi’s own words, Sujay K Srihari’s directorial is entertaining with witty elements catering to all kinds of audiences. “Though the release has been delayed, this subject is more relevant now because people have first-hand experience of staying indoors during the lockdown and working from home,” he says.
Accompanying him in this entertainer is Vedhika, who plays the female lead along with Tanya Hope and Chandini playing pivotal roles. The film has Uppi in a new role. The actor referring to the title Home Minister says the tag is apt for ‘women’. “Women are multitaskers who can handle so many responsibilities. Not that men don’t have the efficiency, but in this case, they can’t be like women,” he says.
“There is a reason for the protagonist to behave the way he does. There is a backstory for him, and my character in the lady get up will unravel interesting facts. It all ends with an extraordinary climax,” says Uppi, who adds that donning a ‘lady’ get up for the film was most challenging for him in Home Minister. “If a subject like Home Minister can make for a thorough entertainment, and will be a double dhamaka provided it gets all the attention of all the women out there,” he says.
Upendra, being a director himself, chooses unique subjects for the actor in him. “It was nice to have a director and producers from the Telugu industry come down and do a Kannada film. As a director, Sujay’s idea about the story was different which he has presented with style. He has understood the subject, and that helped him to pull off the film well. Having said that as a director and actor, I prefer to go with films which will be a paisa vasool for the audience,” he says.
Home Minister, backed by S Poorna Chandra Naidu and Srikanth Veeramachineni, has Ghibran scoring music for the film and Kunjunni S Kumar handling the camerawork.