Krish: GPSK has divine intervention

From doing a Rs. 15 cr movie, Krish has graduated into directing a massive landmark film for a huge star. As 'Gautamiputra Satakarni', Nandamuri Balakrishna's 100th film, hits the screens on Jan 12th, Krish in this interview says that the film must have come into existence due to divine intervention. Read on..

You have wrapped it up very fast. How did the planning go?

I had a story board ready for every scene. Even while shooting 'Kanche', I earmarked a location for 'GPSK', although this project was not born back then. I drew conclusions about the legend of the Satavahanas based on the information available in the form of inscriptions, literature, coinage, etc.

To what extent have you taken creative liberties?

The events are not imaginary, but the depiction sees a lot of creative liberty. For example, the Rajasuya Yagam episode has an authentic context, but the dramatization, etc are the result of imagination. There is a scene where Satakarni, as a child, is told by his mother (Hema Malini) that the wars between kingdoms have been fought for power by kings, not by people. At this, the boy says, 'What if we had one large kingdom?'

Do you think the comparisons with 'Baahubali' are fair?

There is no point in comparing 'GPSK' with 'Baahubali', which is a fantasy. Rajamouli garu's film is a creation, mine is a replication. When Baahubali performs that stunt amidst the waterfalls, the audience gets a high. Such liberty, I can't take here. I must thank Rajamouli garu for two indispensable advises. When I narrated to him the story and the project was finalized, he asked me not to depend too much on graphics and instead do it real. I could complete 'GPSK' in 79 days only because I followed his advice. 

Secondly, after the trailer was released, he called me up and told me not to sleep from now so as to ensure that the sound is perfect.

How did Balakrishna see all this, especially because he takes pride in the history of the Telugus?

Who else could have played this role of a war machine? No other actor but he came to my mind. I was supposed to do a film with Varun Tej when I got the opportunity to narrate this script to Balakrishna garu. When I was giving the narration, I could sense his liking. His energy is just mad. For a war sequence, he wanted to do it without using ropes. At 56, he can ride the horse like no body double can. I think this film had a divine blessing. We needed rain for some sequences and it rained for three days. All wrongs became rights in eventuality. 

Fanatical fans on social media are targeting the film of the other hero. What is your advice, now that you are close to Ram Charan?

Having 'abhimanam' is good. But 'moorkhabhimanam' is wrong. Trolls talk nonsense on social media. What do they know about what Chiranjeevi garu and Balakrishna garu have achieved by doing 150 and 100 films? On listening to the story of 'GPSK', Chiranjeevi garu liked it a lot and said, "Bhale story dorikindi Balayya babu ki". True fans of these stars should not wish bad for the movie of the other star.