After directing a few films and giving a super hit like ‘Bluff Master’ with Satyadev Kancharana, Gopi Ganesh, is once again joining forces with the same actor for ‘GODSE’. Etimes approached the director to have a special chit-chat about his upcoming film (which is set to release tomorrow on 17th June), his career, and his experiences in the Industry. In a free-wheeling chat, Gopi spoke about his initial days as a cinematographer under his guru Puri Jagannadh with whom he worked for 7 years, and much more. Below are the excerpts from the special chit-chat.
How excited are you for 'Godse'?Very excited about its release. The film has come out well.
Image courtesy: Twitter
How was the response to your previous films?I enjoyed it a lot. I got lots of calls appreciating my work and I got this film because of 'Bluff master'.
Did lockdown affect the shoot? Yes, the project got delayed due to covid. We have to post-pone back the shoots back to back. We were jobless for more than 3 months. I used that time to go through my rush, edit them, and do other betterments to the project.
You have three films to your credit, out of which one is a blockbuster. Was it a deliberate attempt to do less number of films?I do everything by myself. I did only 3 films because I was never running behind the number. I have an Ad agency, I used to take care of that. To top it off, several know that I don’t accept every offer that comes my way.
Before doing these 3 films, how were you associated with the film industry? I come from Kakinada, I have no godfathers in the industry before. I'm a fine arts student in cinematography from JNTU Hyderabad. I worked as a cinematography assistant for several of Puri Jagannadh's movies. I worked till Mahesh Babu’s ‘Businessman’ under him for around 7 years. I also worked for Krishna Vamsi’s ‘Danger’ film…!
How did 'Godse' happen? How come you got a chance to work with C.Kalyan?It happened because of KS Rama Rao. He liked my last film and I was working on this project and he started it, but due to other big commitments. He has given away this project to C.Kalyan and I'm continuing with them.
Your name ‘Gopi Ganesh Pattabhi’ sounds somewhat Tamil, are you a Telugu person, if so, what is the most popular one among the bunch of names in the Industry?I'm a 100% Telugu guy, Ganesh is my name, and my father's name is Pattabhi Ramayya. I lost my father recently, so I added my father's name. My actual name is Gopi Ganesh.
Why did you choose Aishwarya Lekshmi as a heroine? I was looking for some fresh face who should give a terrific performance as our Hero Satyadev Kancharana is a very good performer. So, we considered several actresses, but I liked her based on her previous works and performance in my Police Role. She has a good grip on the character and she too liked our project and did very well in the movie.
You said you were an assistant to director Puri Jagannadh but your first film ‘Romeo’ was a dud at the box office, what was your boss's reaction post the verdict of the film?To be frank, the movies, stories, screenplay, and dialogues were written by him, he just experimented with it with me to give me a break as a director. We shot the film on a very less budget with just 16 members abroad. I was also supposed to shoot the film. But in the last film, I had my junior Vinda shoot it. Even before completing the above project, I was offered a ‘Jyothi Lakhsmi’ film to direct. But I declined to say I can’t handle it.
Will 'Godse' be released in any other language apart from Telugu?It is getting ready to release in Tamil and Hindi but not Kannada. Currently, the dubbing works are going on for the Tamil version and so is its Hindi version but will not release parallelly.
What is the response from other language distributors for Telugu films these days as many Telugu films are doing good now?It is known to write, you know how Telugu films are doing these days, we got the same response. But we are yet to get the same collections as we get for Tamil films here. Right from Dasari Narayana Rao, we have been fighting for Telugu film market expansion. If we had good films they were remaking them. So, we thought of releasing it directly.
What was your team's response after watching the first copy of the film?They were very happy after watching the film. KS Rama Rao sir hugged me after seeing the film. Not only that people called me two days after watching the film and praised me so I am even happier. I was also given an advance for my next film post-watching this film. Therefore very happy to see all these positive vibes.
Why back to back films with Sathya Dev, have any particular attachment with him?We have a good rapport, I called him Darling, he trusts my work and my sensibilities so, we are working back to back. At times Satya says we should work on at least 10 films together, it feels very happy to see such a response from a terrific actor like Satya.
What were you doing in the lengthy gaps between your films?Nothing much I have my agency work, I keep writing stories, as I said before I am not in rush to make more films so I work as I like.
Have your boss Puri watched this film and What was his reaction?He watched the trailer he is very happy with my making and he also praised me a lot. He watched my las my Bluffmaster and he has a lot of good things to talk about the film.
What is the USP of ‘GODSE’, why should the public buy tickets and watch the film? See I come from a village with lots of family relations with my villagers. I have been watching ever since my childhood that several people are getting educated, doing B.techs, MCA, and other qualifications but they will be seen doing some petty jobs. As per one Stats, only 6.6% of this nation are in the apt jobs to what they’ve prepared for. Rest all either work as a police constable, call center, and other petty jobs.
Go on..That is what moved me to make a film on such a subject. I felt it is meaningless if a B.tech guy works as a security guard or an office boy. So, I started understanding things slowly and felt like discussing them with the public. The film also has several thought-provoking dialogues and scenes. Several memes have started based on our trailer. Post-release we’ll see a huge discussion on its subject.
What genre film is this, is it a political thriller or a drama, or a youthful film?It is a thriller actually, but our team calls it a youthful love story as there are enough tracks in it, where youngsters who have had bad experiences with their career for years all unite to discuss their long-standing problems and find the reasons for it. The film will have enough fight sequences and an emotionally touching background score.
Where did the shoot of the film take place?It is completely shot in Hyderabad.
What are your future projects, Is anything big happening next? And what kind of films will they be?My dream is to direct Powerstar Pawan Kalyan. I’m trying to narrate my story to him. But I also have a fear of what if he declines my subject. I’m very much excited to show this film to him and then ask for a film with him. My future films will have different subjects however there will be a bit of a thrilling factor in them. Im making a story about a street magician.
Have you watched any Telugu films in theaters in recent times? And how did you like them? Whom do you admire as a filmmaker?I watched ‘RRR’ and it was extraordinary. I admire Rajamouli a lot for his hard work, for one shot he’ll wait the whole day. I also like Shankar, Mani Ratnam, K Balachander, and K Vishwanath movies a lot. I also admire T.Krishna Movies a lot.
Didn’t your boss Puri ask you to do a film with his son, post your success?I'll do, I have to do as Puri's wife is like my sister and I have a good rapport with Akash as well. I'll do a film with him in the future.
Did you get any calls from actors from TFI to do a film with them?I got, and I have a few commitments as well to do a film with them. One producer also gave me an advance to do a film with Satyadev once again.
'Virata Parvam', 'Godse', 'Kerosene' new Telugu films releasing in theatres and on OTT platform this week
'Virata Parvam', 'Godse', 'Kerosene' new Telugu films releasing in theatres and on OTT platform this week
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