I met Saikiran Adivi at the premiere of his debut film Vinayakudu at Prasad's Multiplex in Hyderabad, when my friend and one of the film's two lyricists, Avinash, introduced me to him. He was affable and jovial, and had RELIEF written all over his face when I spoke to him after the show. He spoke exclusively to me and every other specially invited audience of the premiere and sought everyone's suggestions before the actual theatrical release of the film and trimmed it accordingly. Though I only spoke to him for less than 15 minutes, I understood how much he cared about his movies, and that he'd do anything in his reach sincerely to ensure that his movies please the audience. He was friendly, dedicated, patient, and clear in his approach and execution of the film as well as his interaction, I felt. Since then, I had been in touch with him through Orkut and exchanged scraps occasionally. Though he was busy as the producer-director of Village-lo Vinayakudu, he never missed replying to me whenever I wrote. After the release of Village-lo Vinayakudu and the positive talk it generated, I wanted to speak him over the phone to congratulate. He was the same friendly personality I met, and his replies were really honest too! Excerpts of the conversation are presented to TeluguCinema.Com visitors as an exclusive chitchat.
NaChaKi: Hello, Saikiran gaarU! Congratulations on winning Nandi Awards for your debut film Vinayakudu - as second best film and as the best debut director!
Saikiran Adivi: Thank you, thank you! (smiles) I wasn't having time to log on to Orkut and thus there was a delay in replying there...
NaChaKi: The best director of the year, Krish, was also a debutant. What's your comment? And, what's your comment on the Nandi Awards this year in general?
Saikiran Adivi: I expected Krish to win the Best Director Award this year. Who's the best debut director and who's the best director is a judgment made by the jury, and I do not intend to comment on their judgment! ...It's not uncommon or wrong that the Best Director Award could go to a debutant director. For example, Ram Gopal Verma created a whole new trend with his debut film Shiva in a way that no one else back then could think. Thus, Krish winning it this time is not very surprising, since Gamyam was a well-made movie. ...And, the jury made right choices too in all other awards this year. I am not saying this because I won the award (laughs) but that's what I observed.
NaChaKi: Well, yeah, this time there were not any major controversies about the awardee choices either!
Saikiran Adivi: True! Controversies generally arise when the judges make wrong choices. This time they didn't make any, I feel! I think all the judgements were genuine. Whatever and whoever that the general audience felt as being worthy of an award got it.
NaChaKi: Tell us about Village-lo Vinayakudu.
Saikiran Adivi: Some people are thinking this is also a love story like Vinayakudu. However, this film is a family drama with love element and is not a continuation of the previous film. When some people compared it to Vinayakudu subjectwise, I felt that not everyone realized that there's more family drama in the sequel - we captioned the posters "She told them everything... except that he's fat!" but I felt later that the family drama aspect was not established very well before the release of the film. The film is a visual treat like a good "Chandamama katha" where you want to read the story just looking at the story setting and the illustrations therein! And, it's a film that one can watch with one's entire family.
NaChaKi: What's your response to the comments that the film is similar to Meet the Parents. Some comments on our review even said that the film is a role-reversal of Aakaasamantha or a mixture of that film and Bommarillu...
Saikiran Adivi: I haven't seen Meet the Parents myself completely at one stretch. However, Mahi was the one who gave the subject and I know he watched Meet the Parents. It may thus be that the film has some level of influence at a subconscious level, but we didn't really get inspired based on that film or any other film. It's surely not a lift-off either, but I cannot rule out a subconscious influence. I in fact do have the influence of several movies I watched in the past...
NaChaKi: I remember that there were controversies about the title when Vinayakudu released. Did you have such issues this time too?
Saikiran Adivi: Not at all! Those who protested earlier might have not watched the film initially and they might have realized later that we didn't hurt any sentiments in the film. This film is also a neat film that doesn't hurt any sentiments.
NaChaKi: How was the opening report for the film? What's the response you got from various sections of audience?
Saikiran Adivi: The film's report I got was that it's a very good film. Everyone has the feeling of watching a good movie when walking ou of the theater. I got similar report from all over unanimously. The film has the potential to reach a very good range if we can promote it well and if the word of mouth publicity also spreads around. I am confident that no audience will be disappointed with the film. It wouldn't strike anyone as a badly made film.
