Sumanth interview Naruda Donoruda

In this candid chat, Sumanth opens up on this week’s release, Naruda Donoruda, the Telugu remake of Vicky Donor. He explains why the film could break the barriers and pave way for bolder films from Tollywood, and how the remake will connect with even those who’ve watched the original.

You’re known for your choice of films. What convinced you to remake Vicky Donor?

I’m not new to remakes. Gowri was a remake of Tamil film Thirumalai, and it worked but Classmates, a remake of Malayalam film of the same name, didn’t work. I saw Vicky Donor in 2012 and I loved it. Since then I wanted to do a romantic comedy that was truly edgy and bold. I wanted writers in Tollywood to bring me a film like Vicky Donor, but I don’t know why nobody here came through with something edgy and bold. Finally, we decided to remake Vicky Donor, and my friend Ram Mohan, the producer of Golconda High School, gave me the prod to go ahead and do it and set me up with the director of the movie.

Is it true that the project changed hands as the Telugu rights were initially acquired by someone else?

As far as I know, these rumours are not true. I went through John Abraham, the producer of Vicky Donor, who was instrumental in getting me the remake rights. There could have been interest from certain people to remake the film but nothing was signed formally because I don’t think anybody has the balls to go through with it.

Given that Vicky Donor was an edgy and bold film, do you believe Telugu audiences who are known for being conditioned to mostly commercial cinema, will accept a film like Naruda Donoruda?

I was initially apprehensive but I strongly feel it’s a universal subject. Infertility clinics are all over the place and I know people who run them. It’s just one of those things nobody wants to talk about even though it’s there. The little doubt that I had that it might not connect with audiences went away when the trailer went viral.

Do you feel a film like Naruda Donoruda will open the doors for filmmakers to get creative and try bolder subjects?

In Telugu, we’ve always been slightly restricted and conservative when it comes to subject selection vis-à-vis Malayalam and other southern industries. It’s not like we don’t take up bold subjects but we like sugarcoat them. Vicky Donor was bold even for Bollywood, so I’m sure our film will open doors and encourage filmmakers to get more creative and edgy. But the genre of Naruda Donoruda isn’t bold because it falls in the romantic-comedy space. If I get a film like Badlapur, then I’d truly consider it bold.

Since you mentioned Telugu industry is restricted and slightly conservative, did you have to tone down Vicky Donor to suit our audiences?

I haven’t toned it down one bit. In fact, we’ve taken it up a notch. The soul of the film is very intact. I stayed true to the vision of Shoojit Sircar, who is one of my favorite directors, and writer Juhi Chaturvedi. I would not betray them and nor would I betray John by corrupting the original which was well received and appreciated. We’ve upped the humour quotient and we made a few screenplay changes such that even people who have seen the film will find it fresh. The advantage we have is that Vicky Donor was a non-star blockbuster and such films are not highly watched down south. I think only a small percentage of audiences have seen it here. Hence, watching Naruda Donoruda will be like watching a new film.

You chose to work with a debut director (Mallik Ram). How was the experience of working with him?

I have known him since Golconda High School, on which he worked as an assistant director. He had also worked with Indraganti Mohan Krishna and later with Srinivasa Avasarla. He has this wry, quirky sense of humour which I thought was needed to handle a subject like Vicky Donor. Along with the sense of humour, he also has a very sensitive side. The reason I chose him because I moved a short film he had made on modern-day couple. I liked his sensibility and I also realized he’s very much like me.

Annu Kapoor’s role was one of the highlights of Vicky Donor and it even earned him a National award. Has Tanikella Bharani done justice to the role?

No offense to Annu Kapoor, but I think Bharani garu was brilliant. His is the toughest role of the film and our minds never went beyond Bharani garu. He’s a fabulous artist and writer. In our film, he even contributed a lot in the writing aspect.

By HP