Bandla Ganesh is a happy man. After a few box office duds and average hits, he is finally at peace with the tremendous response to his latest film Temper. The film is a landmark of sorts for all the key people involved including Bandla Ganesh, director Puri Jagannadh, NTR and Kajal.
A mighty pleased Bandla Ganesh talks about the film and his future plans…
Temper’s result is out. All the stress seems to have paid off?
I am almost ecstatic. I am totally relieved since all of us had our fingers crossed. It is indeed a happy tiding for our banner.
It is said the stress was mostly due to financial problems…
No, there was nothing financial. Many rumours were floated around, but they are hardly true. But yes, there was some communication gap between me and Puri and NTR.
Would you like to talk about it?
Honestly, there was nothing wrong between us. A few people tried their best to create rift between me and NTR by spreading rumours that I am a mega camp producer and that I was partial to heroes from their camp. However, like financial troubles, this too is a false rumour.
So did it create trouble on the sets?
To make a confession, I almost gave up on the project at one time. I am friends with all heroes and I work with all of them. I want every hero who works in my film to have a blockbuster and go home happy. To me, films are business and if my business has to run smoothly, my heroes have to be happy.
Having said that, it is true Pawan Kalyan is god to me. Because he was the one who gave me the big break to become a producer. Though I had a flop, he called me and gave me a blockbuster. So, after my parents, Pawan is the most important person in my life. There are no two things about it.
With so much going on, how did the issue get resolved?
Thankfully, both the director and my hero saw my sincerity and once that happened everything fell into place.
How many times did you watch Temper before release?
Many times. And I have to make yet another confession here. Temper is the first film for which I was involved in post-production work. Earlier, I would be bothered only about promotion and investment. I used to leave the entire project to the directors and I would never meddle with their work. I would always put myself below the creative genius of the directors.
In the past, you were a small-time actor. Is it because of that?
Maybe. For Temper, I sat in the editing suite, sat through re-recording… I was part of just about everything.
What was PVP’s association with Temper?
Potluri Vara Prasad stood by me at every turn just like an elder brother. I was really distressed when the buyers were quoting very low prices for the film. So, I went up to him and asked him if I will survive if I release the film directly.
He advised me to go ahead and assured that he would stand by me. Buyers wanted Nizam rights for Rs 8 crores. I refused and now the film is doing very good in Nizam.
Now, Temper is a hit. Why were they not confident?
I think the fact that NTR’s Ramayya Vastavayya was a huge flop played a detrimental role. Also, in the past, Andhrawala which also had NTR-Puri combination also did average business. That could have been another reason.
How come you banked so heavily on their combination?
I am confident of Puri’s talent and NTR’s crowd-pulling stamina. That’s why I risked it. You can see that NTR has shown his talent in Temper. Puri’s dialogues have totally worked with the audiences. Vamsi too has done a good job by giving a good climax twist.
It is said when PVP watched the film, he had some suggestions…
He did take the time out to watch the film and he did give some suggestions. I and my brother also noticed some changes that needed to be made. Between three of us, we came up with 15 points that needed immediate correction.
So, the changes were made eventually?
Yes, I told them to Puri and he reacted very positively and made the necessary changes. For starters, Temper song was supposed to be in the first half. But we changed that to the second half. There were a few changes made to the first half and trimmed the film a bit. The second half was also trimmed a bit.
Was Puri convinced of PVP’s suggestions?
All films need some minor corrections. One does digress from the script from time to time. But that is part of the process, you can’t call them mistakes.
Are you confident that Temper will recover the investment?
It was made with a budget of over Rs 40 crores. Temper is a blockbuster. I would like to point out that my banner is the only banner that has given two hits to NTR. Till now, he hasn’t had two hits with any banner.
Now that the producer is happy, what are future plans?
Oh yes, I wouldn’t have to worry for another five years. I am still not very sure of future projects, though I am keen on making Temper 2. NTR and Puri have also given their nod. If Vamsi can come up with a story, we will get started.
But from now on, I want to make small films with new directors alongside big films. The idea is to increase the number of films made from the banner.
Who would you like to thank for Temper?
To my hero NTR, director Puri, my brother, definitely PVP and Vakada Apparao who had looked after the production activities. And last, but surely not the least, to all Nandamuri fans.
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