Educational entrepreneur Satyanarayana Koneru delivered a hit with his last production venture Rakshasudu has made Khiladi with Ravi Teja on lavish budget. The film directed by Ramesh Varma will be arriving in theatres on 11th of this month.
The producer says he entered into films, only for his elder son Havish who did few films as a hero.
“I’m a kind of a person who encourages children to choose profession of their choice. Likewise, I didn’t object, when my son expressed his wish of acting in movies.”
Koneru says he strongly believes that story is the important for a film to become a hit.
Coming to Khiladi, the movie will be releasing as a Pan India project in Hindi and few other languages as well.
“When we conceived the film and after we felt Ravi Teja will be apt for the subject, we wanted to release it at Pan India level as the script has the potential. Moreover, Ravi Teja has his own audience in Hindi and has good market there. However, he never had direct release in Hindi. We then tied up with Bollywood production house Pen Studios to release the movie. Because of this, the budget was increased.”
The producer says one shouldn’t compromise on quality. “I strongly believe that whatever we do, we should do it with high quality and money will come automatically. I implemented the same for this movie as well.”
Khiladi is second consecutive film for the producer with director Ramesh Varma. “Ramesh Varma impressed me with his work for Rakshasudu, which boosted the confidence I had in him. Then, I thought of giving him another chance.”
Reacting about the reports of Khiladi is remake of Tamil movie Sathuranga Vettai 2, Koneru affirms, “I liked Sathuranga Vettai 2 and wanted to remake it, though it was not released till date. Ramesh Varma narrated me a different story, as he felt the same story wouldn’t suit Ravi Teja. He changed the story completely. There’s no connection with Sathuranga Vettai 2. We are releasing the movie in Tamil as well. We spent nearly 60 Cr budget on the film and we recovered maximum of the budget.”
Koneru also clarified that his son Havish didn’t involve in the production of the movie. “Havish is more interested in acting, though he has good knowledge on all the aspects of filmmaking.”
The producer who watched the first copy of the movie is pretty confident that it will do wonders at box office.
“Khiladi has elements for masses and other sections. All the five songs were successful and heroines were extraordinary. Ravi Teja did action and dances effortlessly. DSP is an apt choice for this film. The camera work is of Bollywood and Hollywood standards. It’s a perfect Bollywood movie, though it has all the Telugu sensitives.”
Koneru also confirmed that there are lip-locks in the movie.
The producer says budget increased by 20% due to covid. However, he says all the transactions were done through cheque and digital.
About releasing the movie on tough conditions on 11th, Koneru asserts, “The advantage we have is there is no opposition for the movie for nearly three weeks. We requested AP Govt to extend the night curfew time to 12 AM. The ticket rates, according to my knowledge, will increase after 14th.”
