Nani: Ninnu Kori asks give life a chance

As 'Ninnu Kori' gets ready to hit the screens on July 7th, Nani sounds more than confident. In fact, he says that the film is more than a love story. Besides talking about some unknown facets of 'NK', the Natural Star also takes questions about doing big-budget movies, scoring hit after hit, and so on.
 
Why did you say OK to 'Ninnu Kori' as soon as you heard out the script?
The script has the quality of connecting with the audience at an emotional level.  The emotions are not in bits and pieces, but wholesome. Shiva Nirvana (director) has penned it in such a way that nothing is superficial about it. He could write it in that way because it's so close to heart.

Is it based on a real-life incident? 
I don't know. But the way Shiva has written it and feels strongly about it, I think he must have observed some of the incidents in the film in the life of someone very close to him. The basic idea must be real. The film drives home the message that it's not over if you have a break-up in love or a fall from grace in your career. You haven't seen the world. You have only seen a small world in Hyderabad and failure is not the end of it. You come across people who say, 'Antha aipoindi ra inka na life lo'. Our film tells it's not true. Give life a chance, is what the film tries to say.  
 
The trailer gives the impression that it's a triangular love story...
But it's not.  It's not a cinematic love story either. It's a story involving three characters, not actors. For that matter, I am not the film's hero. The characters played by Nivetha and Aadhi are as much important and memorable.

Gopi Sundar's music, it seems, will have a strong bearing on the emotional appeal of 'Ninnu Kori'... 
True. I felt the song 'Adiga Adiga' is so good that it's like slow poison. Contrary to what some of crew members felt, I felt we should release this song before the teaser or trailer. It worked, as the number of views shows.
 
The song gave the impression that the film is a tragedy...
'NK' is not at all sad.  In fact, 80 per cent of the film is pure fun and entertainment. Even when you have tears in eyes, you have a smile on your face.

So, we are going to see you in a full-on love story once again....
All films have a love story in them.  Be it a 'Swathi Muthyam', an 'Oke Okkadu' and even a 'Ghajini', they all belong to this category. Tell me who else has made films as diverse as 'Bhale Bhale Mogadivoy' and 'Nenu Local'. Since I come up with a release every 3.5 months, people think that I am doing too many love stories. Some of them also describe me as a 'minimum guarantee' actor. I am a pressure cooker?  I believe a film should give adequate returns to one and all. Every exhibitor and distributor in every area should make profits.  
 
People must be telling you that you have got six hits in a row....
It may be 6, 12 or anything. But one knows that there will come a day when this march will be brought to a halt by a flop. Hits perigithe, tension kooda perugutundi!
 
But that doesn't happen always. And budgets keep going up!
I don't believe in doing big-budget movies for the sake of it. Evariki goppa? It might help me, but not others. Only if a story demands a certain budget, it should be spent. Otherwise, it's unwise.

That brings us to the numbers game in the industry...
These days, we find sections of audiences talking high about numbers. If you asked them how a film is, he would reply, 'Baga collections vastunnayanta!'  What did I ask you? You miss enjoyment when you bother about collections. 

What kind of films are you going to produce, when you start producing films regularly?
I would like to take up worthy scripts which no other producer might want to invest in. That script should be deserving of support.  
 
Take us through your forthcoming movies....
'Middle Class Abbayi' is my immediate next movie. It belongs to a distinct genre. Once 'NK' hits the screens, we will announce the title and other details relating to Merlapaka Gandhi's next.  As a director, he will go to the next level with this film. It belongs to a new genre and will better than his previous films.