‘Martin Luther King’ will be a laugh riot: Director Puja Kolluru

YNOT Studios and Reliance Entertainment proudly present ‘Martin Luther King’ which is hitting screens on October 27. Produced by Mahayana Motion Pictures, the film is directed by Puja Kolluru. It features SampoorneshBabu in the lead role while senior artistes VK Naresh and Sharanya Pradeep play key roles.The film's teaser, released recently, elicited an overwhelming positive response for its unique blend of political satire and entertainment, making it a refreshing addition to Telugu cinema.

Director Puja Kolluru, in a conversation with Hans India, shares about her experiences. Let’s have a look into it.

Tell us how ‘Martin Luther King’ happened?

YNOT Studios Sashi approached Maha with the script for “Mandela.” They want to remake it. Maha politely turned down the offer as he has so many scripts in the pipeline. That's when I saidMaha that I am interested in taking up the project. The story may look like a political satire, but there is a personal angle and a discrimination angle to it. I grew up in a society where I had to face discrimination as a young girl. So, I told him that I can bring the depth into the story with all my personal experiences. I feel so proud to work with him.

Vijayawada is an epicentre of political activity. When you make a political satire, how your experiences with the society helped you in the script?

Society is not so ideal as we're taught in civics textbooks. You never find an ideal democratic nation in our society. Growing in Vijayawada, the socio-segregations that I have seen there, have all been included in the film. Maha has so much strength in writing screenplay and dialogues. Because he came from the people, he observed so closely. So, if I wrote them, it would have been quite different.

Is it your choice to cast a comedian like SampoorneshBabu as the lead protagonist in the film?

No, it was totally Maha’s call. We had cast options of 64 artistes. It took 20 days to zero in on Sampoo. If it was other than Sampoo, only that actor is visible. But someone like a simple man, a common man like SampoorneshBabu appears on the screen, it appears as though you brought a common man on the stage. That's his identity. SampoorneshBabu is born for this role.

How welcoming is Tollywood for a female director like you?

It is very welcoming. If a woman filmmaker is coming to the industry, she has nothing to do with what the industry thinks about her. How determined she is important. There were problems in Hollywood too. Sexism has changed a lot in the film industry after the emergence of social media. There are two different generations.

The two Telugu States are undergoing a politically charged atmosphere due to elections. To what extent did you try to present the present political situation in ‘Martin Luther King’?

‘Mandela,’ the original Tamil flick reflects Tamil politics. Here, it is entirely different. Be it the pop culture references or from the cinema, we tried to show how people are leading their lives. Without political essence, the film can't be a satirical one. We haven't made the film to appease someone or mock somebody. If there is anything bias in the film it would be the bias that we have for the people, for the common man.

What are the major highlights of the film?

It's a complete fun and comedy entertainer. From a five-year-old girl dancing to folk music to the 80-year-old economic professor -- everyone would enjoy this laugh riot. This satire is not just for laughs. It will be embedded in the story. That is the highlight in terms of entertainment point of view. In terms of vote point of view, how important a vote is in a democracy already exists in the story. But we amped up very much. The King, the voter is the king you see the tagline, that is the punchline of the story. Martin Luther King had fought for civil rights, especially against the discrimination of vote. I grew up listening to the name Martin Luther King. That's how I got connected with the name.