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00:00But I think it's all of the things we talked about, but it's like the kids, I think.
00:06I think, you know, the kids who love the movie or the kids who give me reviews
00:10or the kids who are like pestering their parents because they want to go see Bujji.
00:15The kids who are, they are loving the movie.
00:20And I'm saying kids as young as like four or five.
00:24And that gives me a lot of, I guess, satisfaction or joy.
00:32Thank you so much, Nag, for speaking to Gulf News.
00:36Firstly, you have made one of the most polarizing movies of the year, I have to say.
00:41It is one movie where critics can't seem to agree whether they love it or they hate it.
00:46There's no middle path with this one.
00:47So you need to tell us, was that the reaction you were hoping to expect?
00:54Thank you. I didn't know, actually, that it was so polarizing.
00:57I just thought...
00:59There's no middle path. I've read all the reviews.
01:01I've reviewed myself. So it's like, yeah.
01:04Yeah, yeah. I mean, we would want to be loved as much as possible.
01:09That's that is always the idea.
01:11And for more people to watch it and enjoy it.
01:13So, yeah, if there are some things that people are criticizing,
01:18we just hope to improve upon.
01:19Of course.
01:23The big question that most people are asking, of course, is,
01:26is this movie original or is it derivative?
01:29What would you like to say?
01:31Because it's from the horse's mouth.
01:33Perhaps you should be able to tell us.
01:37I mean, as a story, it feels like as new or as old as the mythology, right?
01:45Like it's the birth of a god.
01:47So we've heard that story multiple times in multiple cultures.
01:53So we're sort of familiar with it,
01:55but we haven't seen this particular yuga or this particular god.
02:00So it's new and the imagining of its setting
02:03and the imagining of the situations of it are original.
02:07Of course, speaking of imagination, I think you lived in this world, right?
02:13How rewarding was it and how frustrating was it?
02:19It was great.
02:20I mean, it's quite a dream to be able to create your own world
02:25and make its own rules, have characters
02:29and some of the biggest actors, best actors come together
02:33and bring this whole world to life.
02:36So it was a pleasure.
02:38It was great to be part of it.
02:41And it's great to actually see it on the screen right now
02:44and for people to be so invested in it.
02:48Right. It's a spectacle.
02:49I mean, it's a very ambitious one.
02:52When we watch it, of course, there's always a reflected pride, right?
02:55Normally, you look to the West to give us that kind of universe.
02:59And here's a filmmaker from South India who's done the,
03:03you know, we thought it was not achievable, but then you proved otherwise.
03:07Did you know that you were embarking on this great thing
03:10where people would just be proud that an Indian made it?
03:16No, but I think I'm hearing that a lot in the past week and it feels great.
03:21Feels great.
03:22I think we set out to, I mean, we knew it was hard
03:25and all sounded impossible when we started off,
03:29but we didn't think it would mean so much on such a personal level to people.
03:35And that feels great.
03:37As a nation, if we can celebrate this and we feel and we own this,
03:43what else can you ask for?
03:45Right. No, no.
03:46And I love the mythological bit.
03:49It's a marriage between dystopia, I mean, sci-fi dystopia
03:52and I suppose Hindu mythology, right?
03:55I think Hindu mythology is what we can claim credit for.
03:59Did you want more of that?
04:01Perhaps in the next few installments, we'll see more of it, do you think?
04:04Or this was just a teaser, like a palette cleanser of sorts.
04:08We get to taste a bit of everything
04:10and then you go into it in the later installments.
04:15I mean, it's like you said, it's a marriage,
04:18like it's where this world connects to that world.
04:21I don't think we're going back and doing a Mahabharata.
04:25We're always, we're still in 2898 and we're still in this world
04:28and it's just about how it's connected to the Mahabharata.
04:32But yeah, I mean, you'll see as much as we saw now, I guess.
04:36Right.
04:38What was your process like for creating?
04:41Did you have like, it should be 40% mythology, then another,
04:45like because it's a very unlikely union, right?
04:49No, no, no calculations or percentages for sure.
04:52It was just about the screenplay, right?
04:55Like in the screenplay where you feel you need to introduce
04:59or you need to tell this particular point,
05:02that's when you bring in that scene.
05:06So it was only that.
05:07And according to the screenplay,
05:12most of our connection to the Mahabharata world
05:14happened in the second half.
05:17So yeah.
05:19Right.
05:20Has your world changed?
05:21Because you've got all the biggest,
05:23like it's a casting coup of sorts, right?
05:26You've got the biggest stars from every industry.
05:28It's almost like you ticked a box and you were like,
05:30was that also very, I mean,
05:32if you look at the collective star power in this movie,
05:35it's out of this world.
05:37Was that very stressful as well?
05:39Like do I make a movie?
05:46Yeah. I mean, we tried our best not to do that.
05:50It was as honest to the characters as we could.
05:56And it's amazing that like, you know,
05:59all of these actors who are pretty much
06:01at the peak of their career and they are the best,
06:04you know, even legends essentially.
06:07And these guys agreed to be part of this world
06:10where there are these other people also,
06:12these three other actors.
06:14And yeah, and it's such a new,
06:18in a way it's an experiment.
06:20So for them to come on board and, you know,
06:23put their weight behind this project,
06:25yeah, that's what made it possible.
06:27Right.
06:28Could you elaborate on the part where you say
06:31it is a creative experiment of sorts?
06:34In your own words,
06:37I think more than a creative experiment,
06:38I think it's more of a film industry sort of experiment
06:43because we're not really used to seeing
06:45these kinds of films as an audience.
06:47Like even as a city audience,
06:50we don't see these kinds of films.
06:51Forget about the other ones, other centers.
06:54So it's fully like,
06:57we don't know how people are going to react.
06:59We don't know how long or how quickly
07:02they will enter the world
07:03and accept this so-called universe or dystopia.
07:07And also, yeah, so that way it was an experiment
07:10to see how the people would react.
07:12Yeah.
07:13Right.
07:13I was talking to Denny Villeneuve
07:15because Dune was shot in Abu Dhabi.
07:17They had a premiere there.
07:19And he was telling me,
07:20it's not about the visuals.
07:22It's not about,
07:23it's all about the emotions at the end of the day.
07:25And I found that striking
07:26because I was telling him
07:27how Indian movies are all about the emotions.
07:30You don't have to give us budgets,
07:31you know, like we don't need to look.
07:33It is so interesting.
07:34He said the same.
07:35Do you believe that as well?
07:36If the characters don't connect,
07:38then no amount of money or visual spectacle
07:41is going to save the day.
07:43Agreed, agreed.
07:44I mean, fully because it doesn't matter.
07:46It's your star power,
07:47your visual spectacle, your music,
07:50all of that might get people in
07:52for the first show of the film.
07:54But that's it.
07:55After that, it has to be the story
07:56and the world that brings them back.
08:00So, yeah, I completely agree with that.
08:04And what were your briefs to the actors?
08:07Because they are different spectrums,
08:09different levels of even the age,
08:11if you look at it.
08:13How did you,
08:14did you have different briefs for everybody?
08:15What kind of a director are you?
08:19I think it was,
08:20it was obviously based on the character
08:22and based on the scenario.
08:25And I think all of them,
08:26despite being such massive stars,
08:30were completely,
08:32I mean, you know,
08:34open to just being that character
08:36and just listening to whatever
08:37my thoughts or interpretation was,
08:40rather than trying to bring in their persona
08:43or their whatever else opinions
08:48they might have had.
08:49They allowed and submitted themselves
08:51to the process or to the film.
08:53And I think that's what also makes them,
08:56you know, great actors like Amitabh Bachchan sir
08:58or Kamala Sen sir,
08:59with the massive experience that they have,
09:03they're still acting
09:06and they're still on set
09:08and listening and performing
09:10as if it's the only movie.
09:12So that's great, actually.
09:16Right.
09:17The first half of the movie
09:18and the second half of the movie,
09:19there was a huge shift in the change of pace.
09:22It's almost like two directors directed it.
09:24I really felt that.
09:25I'm being honest here.
09:27What was that like?
09:28Were you in different spaces?
09:29I was so curious to know.
09:31I wanted to be a fly on the wall
09:32when you were doing your first and the second,
09:34just to know how different,
09:36it's really switch gears.
09:38And I was very taken aback.
09:40I did not anticipate that quick shift.
09:44It also is the screenplay, right?
09:46It also is the screenplay,
09:48which shifts gears.
09:50Like the 10 minutes before the interval
09:53of the first half of the film
09:54is when all these characters actually start in a way.
09:59Like actually the first half ends up being a lot,
10:02a very long introduction of the characters and the world.
10:05But the story, so to speak,
10:07only happens when these three characters,
10:10you know, their purpose starts coming alive.
10:13They take that first step
10:14and their worlds intertwine.
10:16So from there, the movie shifts gears,
10:18the screenplay shifts gears.
10:19So I guess it was a different kind of film
10:24because of that, yeah.
10:26Yeah, yeah.
10:26It's like two different,
10:28I was pleasantly taken aback by it as well
10:30because first half, it took time.
10:32And do you think in this world, right?
10:35Where it's about instant gratification,
10:37we flip a channel immediately,
10:38you took a huge risk.
10:40You expected people to be invested in it.
10:43Did you also know that you're,
10:44you're kind of testing even the viewers,
10:46our loyalty or allegiance as well?
10:50I didn't think so, so much actually.
10:52I, in almost in reverse,
10:54I felt that maybe because it's such a new world
10:56or a genre that maybe people would want that extra,
11:01you know, five minutes to, you know,
11:03understand and get invested in the world.
11:05I was almost thinking in those terms.
11:07I see, all right.
11:09And what would you say was the toughest
11:10and the most rewarding bit
11:12about making such a huge spectacle?
11:14I mean, the budgets are being bandied
11:15about 6 billion rupees
11:17and that's a lot of money riding on one film.
11:20I don't know what that is.
11:21I don't know what that is, but yeah.
11:24Yes, you don't know that was the budget.
11:26I'm sorry.
11:27You didn't.
11:27Never, never heard of 6 billion rupees.
11:29I don't know what, how many,
11:30how much is 6 billion?
11:31That is 600 crores because crores is, yeah.
11:34So we have to convert it into millions for that.
11:36I actually never did that conversion.
11:38Yeah, cool.
11:39Yeah, yeah, yeah.
11:41It is, it probably is close to 600 crores,
11:44but the point, what really makes us happy right now
11:48is not just that we're making that money back,
11:51which is great and that's the point,
11:55but also that, you know,
11:56in multiple levels like that,
11:58like writers and directors are like,
12:00dude, like, you know, because this works,
12:02this changes so many things for the industry
12:04or people like that.
12:07And, you know, there's so many theater owners
12:11or multiplex owners are all like, you know,
12:13this is really given a new lease of life
12:15for the theater industry.
12:17And it feels like it's done so many things
12:20apart from just the film.
12:22You know, so many people are reading about the Mahabharata.
12:24So many kids are going into this
12:27and owning their superhero world sort of thing
12:30that it feels like, yes, the movie is what it is
12:33and it's done what it is.
12:34We can talk numbers and reviews,
12:35but I think apart from that,
12:37it seems to have done a lot of things
12:38which we never planned for.
12:40And it's great.
12:41All of them are good things.
12:43No, no, I love it.
12:44You have stoked that interest in Hindu mythology,
12:47even to a generation who was not sure
12:51about who Ashwatthama is.
12:52Is it Ashwagandha or Ashwatthama?
12:54They had no clue.
12:55And they're like, oh, we have such a rich tapestry
12:57or whatever to go back to, you know?
12:59Do you feel like a superhero yourself, Nag?
13:02Like you are the actual superhero?
13:04Not really, but we're fully satisfied, you know,
13:10because there's so much of self-doubt
13:13that could happen in a project that takes so long.
13:17And we're sort of self-guessing ourselves sometimes.
13:22But the fact that the people have a theatrical experience
13:26that they want to go again and again and watch,
13:28I feel that that's great.
13:31It feels awesome that people want to watch it multiple times.
13:36That's great.
13:37Of course.
13:38Is there any character where you think the second installment,
13:41the next, like it's the Kalki cinematic universe
13:44we are looking at, right?
13:45Is there one character that you would, I think, flesh out more?
13:48Do you have an idea?
13:49What's the scene?
13:50I'm not even sure where are you at?
13:53Are you allowed to give them away?
13:55No, not even about flesh out or anything,
13:57but obviously we see a lot more of Yaskin and Sumathi
14:01in the second part.
14:02So, yeah.
14:03I love it.
14:04You have to tell me about the star that kind of surprised you
14:08or the actor that surprised you.
14:10It can be even Annaben or anybody who you thought,
14:13oh, I'm pleasantly surprised.
14:16I love Annaben.
14:17I love Annaben and Kaira's character.
14:20And it's great.
14:21I think it's my favorite.
14:23And even that action part of it, the music of it,
14:27I just love it.
14:28Like, so, yeah, I loved Annaben even from her earlier work,
14:34like Kumbhalangi Nights, I loved.
14:35And just the fact that, you know,
14:38she has this moment in the film that I feel after seeing it,
14:43it feels like, wow, she played it so perfectly.
14:45She did.
14:46It was a very nifty role.
14:47And there were so many star cameos.
14:49Well done, Yon, executing it.
14:51It was like the who's who of the industry coming in.
14:54Did they just say yes to you?
14:56What kind of wand did you, what did you do?
15:00Like, have all these bizarre cameos
15:03from Ram Gopal Verma to Bahubali's director?
15:07It was that kind of film, I think, you know,
15:10like where everyone just wants to be of help
15:16in somehow, some way or the other,
15:18because they have no idea what we're trying to do.
15:21They just want to be helpful.
15:23And they're like, you know,
15:24if it's a cameo show, we'll come and do it.
15:26And it's just, it's just great.
15:27It is so supportive and yeah.
15:30Right.
15:30Did you grow up on a staple of Hollywood,
15:33sci-fi films, et cetera, too?
15:36I'm just wondering, where did this interest come from on?
15:40Did you grow up on it?
15:42Not, not really.
15:44I think the past 10 years or so, just like everyone else,
15:48we've been watching a lot of the Marvel
15:52and the Hollywood cinematic universes or whatever.
15:55That's been happening as much as,
15:59but growing up, I think the only thing I remember
16:01from the West that I really saw and stayed with me
16:04was probably Star Wars and maybe Titanic or something.
16:09That's about it.
16:13But I did grow up on a lot of old Telugu films
16:16and just watching a lot of Telugu films for the longest time.
16:21Yeah.
16:22Yeah.
16:23And what do you think has been your biggest achievement so far?
16:26I know you told me that the theater owners
16:28are like patting you on the back for reviving that sector.
16:32But in your own case, creatively,
16:34what do you think has been your most?
16:36Was it the reviews or was it just fans,
16:40people wanting to work with you?
16:41Because suddenly you are now a household name, right?
16:43People know you a lot more.
16:47Definitely.
16:48But I think it's all of the things we talked about,
16:53but it's like the kids, I think.
16:55I think, you know, the kids who love the movie
16:57or the kids who give me reviews
16:59or the kids who are like pestering their parents
17:02because they want to go see Bujji.
17:04The kids who are, they are loving the movie.
17:09And I'm saying kids as young as like four or five.
17:12And that gives me a lot of, I guess,
17:17satisfaction or joy.
17:20Right. Kids can be brutal as well.
17:22They're very honest.
17:25That's why it means so much also.
17:28Right. Right.
17:29It's interesting.
17:29I was on your social media, Instagram,
17:31and you shared a review,
17:33which I wasn't sure was very flattering or not.
17:35It was a poet speaking in rhymes,
17:37very lyrical review.
17:39I was very fascinated why you chose that review.
17:44It felt very honest.
17:47It felt very honest.
17:48You know, the good is good.
17:49The bad is bad.
17:50It's fun.
17:51Yeah. Yeah.
17:51I'm not sure if he truly liked the movie though.
17:56I thought he did.
17:58I thought he ended on a positive only.
18:03But either way, it felt like a fun way to do it also.
18:06A fun way to review.
18:08Brilliant.
18:09And of course you need to tell me,
18:11like in the second installment,
18:12what are your plans?
18:13Like when can we expect it?
18:15Everybody is asking me,
18:16when's the second one?
18:17All our readers are like very curious to know.
18:20When's the second one?
18:22What can you tell us?
18:26It needs to be short.
18:28It needs to be short.
18:29And it's a long way off for sure.
18:32But it'll be quicker than the first one
18:35because a lot of things are already in place.
18:38Right.
18:39But do you feel more emboldened now?
18:42You have realized that people have accepted this world.
18:44You have created something that people have not rejected.
18:50Definitely.
18:51That definitely gives you a lot of confidence.
18:54Like that world building we're talking about.
18:56Yes.
18:56It's not really necessary
18:58because the characters have been introduced.
19:00The world has been introduced.
19:01So you can get straight to the story from the very beginning.
19:05Excellent.
19:06Thank you so much for entertaining us.
19:08Our 20 minutes are up.
19:09But I have to tell you,
19:11like you said,
19:11you created a world that was very fascinating.
19:14It took some time for us to warm up too,
19:16but finally we got there.
19:19Thank you so much.
19:20Thank you for your time.