As there no news articles were available about Nageswara Rao, the filmmaker met former police officials to study related documents.
Director Vamsee. (X)
The process of making the true story of the famous thief Tiger Nageswara Rao into an onscreen biopic took director Vamsee a strenuous time of two years.
He would visit Stuartpuram in Krishna district once every six months and spend 10 days consulting and speaking to the old-timers who rubbed shoulders with Nageswara Rao in the British-era colony.
“Every time I visit the place, I would find 10 new things about his heroics. At one point, I had more information than what I needed for the film to make,” says Vamsee.
Ravi Teja’s upcoming film Tiger Nageswara Rao features the actor in the titular role of Nageswara Rao, who earned notoriety for his escapades and robberies during the 70s.
It also stars Gayatri Bharadwaj and Nupur Sanon as the leading ladies, while former actress Renu Desai plays a prominent role.
As the film is releasing in theatres on 20 October, Vamsee closeted with the media on Tuesday, 17 October. Here are the excerpts from the interview.
Director Vamsee says he is fortunate to have cast “Mass Maharaja” Ravi Teja in the movie which, he believes, has the potential to entertain core film lovers.
“As many biopics are being made about sportspersons and celebrities, I thought of telling a story which is unheard of and untold. Some historians do know about Nageswara Rao. However, the challenging task was how interesting could I tell this story to audiences on the screen,” he said.
The shooting journey of #TigerNageswaraRao is extremely close to my heart and i’ll cherish the memories forever❤️🔥
See you at the cinemas from Oct 20th 🔥🔥@RaviTeja_offl @AnupamPKher @AbhishekOfficl @AAArtsOfficial @NupurSanon @gaya3bh #RenuDesai @Jisshusengupta @gvprakash… pic.twitter.com/aaOIGfACGO
— VAMSEE (@DirVamsee) October 16, 2023
Vamsee describes Tiger Nageswara Rao as an emotion and not a thief.
“There would be another side of the coin for everything in this world. Nageswara Rao was from a small community in Krishna district. He was a bandit as we know. But we aren’t sure what was his nature, his inner soul, the struggles he faced, and why he took up burglary as a profession.”
The filmmaker felt that there could be two extremities to his personality. “He was very brave and ferocious, and on the other side, he was a warm and affectionate individual to his people in the community. He was not a grey character.”
Ravi Teja in ‘Tiger Nageswara Rao’. (X)
The director says it is easy to make the story into fiction but not a true story.
“I initially struggled to get information on this infamous thief from Andhra Pradesh. Usually, any personality who is in the public domain would have some information available through books and biographies. But there was nothing about Nageswara Rao,” Vamsee wondered.
He elucidated, “As there were no news articles about him, I met former police officials and read related records and documents. All the contemporaries of Nageswarao either passed away or are suffering from old age-related problems. Many were reluctant to speak. They are in their 80s now.”
The director then decided that if he was to make a film, he should make the audience believe in the story. “That’s why I mentioned ‘true rumours’. You can assume it is a kattu katha (fictitious tale).”
Vamsee recalls that Ravi Teja never wanted to use dupes for the fight sequences in the film.
“You can’t imagine an actor being so physically strong at the age of 55. The way he maintains his physique is simply amazing. All the fight scenes in the movie — especially the one which we showed in the trailer — were all perfectly nailed by Ravi Teja garu,” he signed off.
HIS story began and the HISTORY is written!
Here’s the trailer of #TigerNageswaraRao 🥷
– https://t.co/UlKRvNdsFZOctober 20th is going to be WILD this time at the cinemas😊 pic.twitter.com/oS7X1ShYJS
— Ravi Teja (@RaviTeja_offl) October 3, 2023
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