I was shocked when Balakrishna called me ‘Guruvu garu’ on the sets of ‘Bhagavanth Kesari’: Anil Ravipudi

Here are excerpts from the interview:

A song poster from the film ‘Bhagavanth Kesari’. (X)

Q. You seemed to have ventured into an unknown territory of filmmaking. How entertaining is Bhagavanth Kesari likely to be on screen?

A. You could say that this is my second inning. If you observe my filmography, writing emotional dramas has been my forte, with an extra dose of fun.

I had this feeling that I couldn’t tell an honest story all the while on my journey. When I thought about making Bhagavanth Kesari, I wanted the right weapon like Balayya garu (Balakrishna).

And everything fell into place — a good star cast, good production value, and, above all, a good subject. It is certainly going to be a memorable film in my career.

Q. The film seems to have an army connection. Could you elaborate?

A. When I was doing Sarileru Neekevvaru (2020) with Superstar Mahesh Babu, it was a deliberate attempt to make the Army its backdrop. But in Bhagavanth Kesari, it’s not just the Army connection.

We speak about various aspects, including women’s empowerment. Sreeleela is a woman who is rather meek and frightened because of incidents that she has faced in her real life. “How do we make her strong?” is the thought we had.

So, we took the Indian Army as the movie’s backdrop to tell her story. “Banao Beti Ko Sher” is the underlying message.

The Army backdrop would give the story the required freshness. If you see the stats, the number of women getting recruited into the Indian Army is more now. But they’re not serving at the borders. They are serving at the administrative level, like ground duty officers, etc.

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Q. Obviously Balakrishna was your first choice, but how did he react to the story of Bhagavanth Kesari?

Anil Ravipudi behind the camera. (X)

A. Balakrishna is someone who accepts any new experiment on the screen. He did it in the past with films like Bhairava Dweepam (1994) directed by Singeetam Srinivasa Rao, and Aditya 369 (1991).

He was impressed with the story the moment I told him the line “Bhanao Beti Ko Sher”. Also, credit goes to Sreeleela for accepting the daughter’s role.

As an artist, Balayya garu supported me very well. In the process of mouthing the dialogues in a Telangana accent, he took utmost care.

The beauty of Telangana dialect is that I like its straightforward nature. You don’t mind even a few cuss words rolling out in between. And it would suit Balayya garu perfectly.

Q. What was it like working with Balakrishna in close quarters?

A. Balakrishna garu gives so much respect to the chair of a filmmaker. I was shocked when he started calling Guruvu garu.

Legendary actors like him treat me with so much respect, that you can sense his personality. And when Balayya garu gets into fun mode, he is just a notch higher, he is unstoppable.

Also read: I’ve learnt the art of acting through dance, says Sreeleela

Team ‘Bhagavanth Kesari’. (X)

Q. How has Balakrishna’s characterisation been designed in this film?

A. Bhagavanth Kesari is a story of a man who inspires a woman and how he leads her from the front towards her goal. And also how Kesari balances his vengeance.

Q. Your movies are known for their quirky one-liners like ‘Anthe ga, anthe ga…’ and ‘Mheo Mheo pilli’. Would there be any such lines in this serious film?

If you want to generate fun, you should certainly catch the pulse of the public. What we need to infuse into the public and what we need to use in the films— it’s all mutual.

Even in this film, there are lines like “Bro, I don’t care” and “Shhh sappudu cheyaka“. I hope they become popular too when the film is released on 19 October.

Q. Usually, every Balakrishna film has some dialogue referring to a political party. 

A. No such punchlines are included in the dialogues of this movie. I don’t like to have such dialogues, personally. I don’t want to get into such controversies unless the story demands it.

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