Director Srikanth Reddy looks confident with ‘Aadikeshava’

Srikanth N Reddy made popular short films and worked as writer for films like “Dohchay” and “Tuntari” is now debuting as director with PanjaVaisshnavTej and Sreeleelastatter “Aadikeshava.” Suryadevara Naga Vamsi and Sai Soujanya are producing the film on Sithara Entertainments and Fortune Four Cinema, respectively. The young director has interacted with Hans India prior to the release on 24th November, 2023 worldwide.

Why did you choose ‘Aadikeshava’ as your debut film?

I wanted to make an experimental action movie but many of my friends suggested to me not to make any experiments at this moment. So, I got the idea of making an out and out commercial movie for my debut.

So, you have decided to make ‘Aadikeshava’ as your debut from the beginning?

Not really, I got the idea for ‘Aadikeshava’ but as it is a big budget movie, I did not think any producer will give me such huge budget for my debut. So, I wanted to make a small budget comedy movie and met producer Benny. He loved the idea and we were about to start working on it, full fledgedly. After three days, he suddenly asked me, if I have any commercial subject in hand. I narrated ‘Aadikeshava’ to him.

How did Vaisshnav come on board?

I had in my mind, the story and character. I thought of VaisshnavTej as screenplay developed but I was not sure if he would be doing this high budget film with a debutant. When producer suggested his name, I got the confidence to go and approach him without any second thoughts. VaisshnavTej took his time but never had any doubts about the story. He is a hard worker and truly passionate about his work. Me being a debutant director, had to take some tough decisions about shooting locations and timings. He never questioned anything and always asked me to concentrate on the output.

How did you decide on taking Sreeleela as heroine?

Producer Naga Vamsi suggested Sreeleela and I went with his conviction. Before we finalized her name, ‘Dhamaka’ did not release and hence, I trusted his judgement. While working with her and as VaisshnavTej& her pairing looked fresh and perfect, I understood how perfectly he cast her for Chitra role. I am happy to have worked with such a dedicated actress for my first film.

BOX

Actor PanjaVaisshnavTej, director Srikanth Reddy, and producer Suryadevara Naga Vamsi at the film’s pre-release event held in Hyderabad