His latest movie, 'Namo venkatesa', starring Venkatesh and Trisha, struck gold at the box-office despite the fact that it released along with three other movies diuring Sankranthi. Only Srinu Vytla could have taken that risk. Namo Venkatesa is one of the biggest hits in Venkatesh’s as well as my career. This New Year has begun on a good note for me,” exclaims this creative director, who has managed to win an audience this time around too.
Elaborating on his experience with Venkatesh, he shares, “Contrary to his stardom, Venkatesh is a very cool actor. He has absolutely no ego and is very cooperative.” Vytla’s attitude reflects in most of his movies as he sums it up: “I am a very happy-go-lucky person. I try to dilute down any serious situation that arises.” W h e n asked as to why comedy is given priority in his movies, Vytla disagrees, “My themes are serious, but the treatment is always entertaining. There are action scenes as well but comedy is highlighted.” It therefore comes as a surprise, that Vytla’s first movie happens to be an off-beat movie called Nee Kosam with Ravi Teja.
“Though Nee Kosam was appreciated and also awarded, it was not a commercial success. From Anandam onwards, I have made entertainment a crucial part in all my movies,” he says.
It is not uncommon for directors to leave their stamp with their films, and for Vytla, his popular drunk scenes have become his signature. Vytla says they were incidents from his real life. “I used to stay in a rented house and the owner would torture me and my friends. We used to come up with plans to take revenge, though it never happened. I tried to portray it in Anandam and then it continued in other movies,” clarifies the director with a smile.
The experiment has later become a source of inconvenince for him as he has to come up with different scenes owing to public demand.
“The drunk scenes have become my signature style in all my movies. For Namo Venkatesa I had to spend 10-15 days on on conceptualising the scene as Venkatesh plays a soft character.
Even women seemed to have enjoyed that scene in the theatres,” he shares.
Favourites
Amitabh Bachchan and Aamir Khan top his list of favourites whom he idolises and loves. Vytla does not hide his intentions of wanting to make movies in other languages. “I did get an offer for remake of 'Dhee' in Hindi but due to prior commitments I could not do it. I want to certainly make a Hindi movie in future.”
Advice
Climbing the success ladder the hard way, Vytla has a piece of advice for all the youngsters who wish to handle the camera some day. “One has to really slog and work hard to become a director. Be prepared for anything, right from starting off as an assistant to convincing and impressing your seniors. You have to be mentally strong with lots of patience and success will come your way” Vytla says as he signs off.
rahul.d@expressbuzz.com