Mumbai, Maharashtra: In an exclusive chat with IANS, Nani revealed why he chose to back his latest film both as actor and producer, saying, “It just felt right, emotionally and creatively.” Shrinidhi also talked about being selective after the huge success of K.G.F. 2. Nani, known for his rare post-Rajamouli success, said, “I trust good stories to find me, but I also keep searching for them.” Shrinidhi described her role of Mridula as “complex, strong, yet vulnerable.” On Indian cinema’s global future, both felt confident—Nani called it unstoppable while Shrinidhi believes that stories are universal, it’s just the beginning.
#Nani #Shrinidhi #IANSExclusive #KGF2 #Mridula #IndianCinema #GlobalCinema #ActorProducer #RajamouliSuccess #TeluguStar #BollywoodActress #StoryMatters #FilmTalks #CreativeVision #EntertainmentNews #CinemaProgress #StrongRoles #UniversalStories #BehindTheScenes #IndianFilmIndustry
#Nani #Shrinidhi #IANSExclusive #KGF2 #Mridula #IndianCinema #GlobalCinema #ActorProducer #RajamouliSuccess #TeluguStar #BollywoodActress #StoryMatters #FilmTalks #CreativeVision #EntertainmentNews #CinemaProgress #StrongRoles #UniversalStories #BehindTheScenes #IndianFilmIndustry
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FunTranscript
00:00So, hello everyone, welcome to Anis and congratulations for HIT part 3 that is about to release on
00:05May 1st.
00:06Correct.
00:07In cinemas.
00:08I want to ask both of you, that you have, you produced the second part coming back.
00:13First part, second part.
00:14First part, second part.
00:16From a cameo in the second part to now a full-fledged role.
00:20What was it about the HIT universe that enticed the actor in you rather than the producer?
00:26No, the producer got impressed first to do it and things fell in place.
00:32I never thought I'd be acting in this because I was busy with my own, you know, line-up of
00:37films and all that but everything just organically unfolded and we didn't really plan anything
00:44but second part, we needed to have a cameo, then I've done myself and then third part,
00:50we thought we'll see when it happens, we thought at least a couple of hours more before it materializes.
00:55But then suddenly Silesh came up with a great idea and then everything fell in place and
00:58we started working.
00:59Yeah.
01:00And Shailesh?
01:01How I came on board?
01:02Well, what was it about DIP, this project that appealed to the actor in you?
01:07First the brand himself and obviously second HIT 1, HIT 2 has done really well.
01:14So I knew that Silesh, you know, will come up with a great, great story and then he narrated
01:18it, the story was great.
01:20So I didn't really want to miss that chance of being part of HIT 3 franchise, the HIT
01:25franchise.
01:26Yeah.
01:27And moving forward Nani, I was listening to one of your earlier interviews, there was
01:32this one word which has been used, the conviction.
01:35For you as a storyteller, as an actor, as a producer, as the creator of cinema in a larger
01:40sense, what is it that you look for in stories that come to you?
01:45What are the check marks that have to be fulfilled for you to say yes to it or to go ganko about
01:50it?
01:51Yeah, there are no check marks and what it makes me feel, I go with the gut feeling.
01:55I don't look for, are these things there or does it have this structure or this, you
02:00know, first act, second act, I don't understand.
02:05I understand what I'm feeling while listening to it, I'm excited.
02:10Generally, I'll have my script narrations post lunch.
02:15Okay.
02:16So, where I'm extremely sleepy, so if a script really keeps me awake and I'm like excited
02:21and...
02:22Oh, that's a nice idea.
02:23Yeah.
02:24So, it is a clear indication, it indicates that it is something, it did something for
02:30me, right?
02:31And also I don't need, I was just saying in a funny way, but I don't need to rely on it.
02:36I can feel it, right?
02:37What I'm feeling, the story.
02:40So I think, yeah, so there's no check marks or there's no something, it's, I don't come
02:46set, you know, prefix that these are the things which need to be there.
02:50But I don't know myself, you just, you just surprise me, blow me away with something you
02:54tell me.
02:55And it need, it can be from any genre, it need not be in a particular genre or anything.
03:01Anything new and, and if I'm listening to it with wonder or listening to it with a lot
03:05of interest or excitement, I think that's what it is.
03:07You go purely by the gut?
03:08Purely by the gut, yeah.
03:09Okay.
03:10And Shani, this is your first film in three years, sorry, second film in three years after
03:15Cobra, after KGF released, KGF 1, KGF 2, you know, massive success, massive adulation from
03:23the audience as well.
03:24And then you sort of become very selective in the kind of projects that you choose.
03:28Cobra was one.
03:30This is one.
03:31Again, you've worked with all the biggest of the superstars in all three films.
03:35How do you, how did you keep your nerves in check, you know, while waiting for the right
03:39story to come to you?
03:40There is this, I don't know, it's a very wrong perception that they think that after
03:45KGF 2, I've become selective.
03:47No, when I got the movie in 2016, when I got KGF, when I signed KGF, you know, it happens
03:52when a new girl signs a movie.
03:54So obviously other makers also reach out and so when I signed KGF itself, I was getting
04:00offers in Kannada.
04:02So even then I had made up mind that no, let KGF come only then I'll sign others.
04:06So I was selective even before the first movie came out.
04:09It wasn't that KGF 2 ke baad I suddenly became this, no, that was genuinely my conscious
04:14choice of if I'm doing a movie, even in the beginning when I was, I did not, I did not
04:18have any releases.
04:19So 2016 I signed, 2018 December KGF 1 released.
04:24I had not signed anything else, multiple scripts, narrations happened.
04:28Then KGF 2, us ke beech mein Cobra had come.
04:31So it was, and Cobra also is pure because of Vikram sir and I wanted to work with him irrespective
04:36of what.
04:37that.
04:38So yeah, so that was not after KGF 2.
04:41You know, and that continued to see, there's no changes that happened ki us blockbuster
04:45or hit ke baad mera dekne ka tari ka alag change hua, aisa kuch nahi hai.
04:48Jaisa mei soch te di, waisa soch rahi hai.
04:50And abhi geech mein muche koii work out nahi hua, kuchh materialize nahi hua.
04:55You know, sometimes, sometimes things come but it doesn't hit the right chords.
05:00Ho hua nahi.
05:01There's another Telugu project that happened.
05:05I really liked the way how the director of the movie, Nirjha narrated the story and it
05:10really hit the chords for me.
05:12And uske murta puja mein I met Nani because he happened to be her friend and then yeah,
05:19from there, from there it re-happened.
05:22And with regards to the character of Arjun Sarkar, we see him as the SP of the HIT Homosetal
05:30Intervention Unit.
05:31Tell me when everything was falling into place in terms of the storytelling, the character
05:37archetype, when it was being written, what were some of the inputs from your end because
05:41you are also the producer as well, so you have to kind of keep a check mark on the market
05:45dynamics also, what's happening, what's entrant or perhaps not.
05:49So, what was some of the inputs from your side as well, as I mentioned, as creator of
05:54cinema in a larger sense?
05:56As producer, you mean?
05:57Producer and actor.
05:58With HIT-3?
05:59Yeah.
06:00Producer, I think, was technically absent because I don't know, my mind doesn't function that
06:07way.
06:08Of course, yeah, I started this series and I've always tell my team to give whatever is needed
06:12for the film and I didn't, there's not much of a thought process which went in as producer.
06:20I've just decided that we're doing this film and whatever is needed, whatever we have spent.
06:25And once in a while, you know, members from team come and tell me, oh, we have finished,
06:30you know, closed with Netflix, we have closed with whatever, whatever these, the distribution
06:35deals or whatever.
06:37In separate, separate parts and pieces, they'll tell me and we've done that, they'll say,
06:40and I'll say, okay, that's, that's it.
06:43I don't put so much of thought into it and because I'm generally, I'm more inclined towards
06:48the creative part of it.
06:49I enjoy my work as an actor on sets or being creatively involved.
06:55So, more aware of all these things which are happening on this side, but not very aware
07:00of things happening on that side.
07:02Thankfully, I have a great team who takes care of things, so.
07:05So, does switching of that part of the producer in you, does it allow you to get immersed more
07:11in the, in the creative aspects of the project?
07:13No, because I anyway, you know, get immersed more in the creative project.
07:18That is why I switch off with the producer.
07:20Yeah.
07:21So, it's reversed basically.
07:22Yeah.
07:23And, one of your favourite works, my favourite works of yours is Ega with Rajamani sir.
07:29And, you know, one of the, one of the rare breed of actors, you know, who has, you know,
07:36managed to go forward with meaningful cinema, cinema that makes a difference, you know, despite
07:42that massive success of Ega or Mukhi that, as it's called in Hindi.
07:46Tell me, as, as an actor, you know, who was embarked on this journey.
07:51Again, being very selective, you know, putting your faith on projects that really appeal to
07:56you.
07:57What does it take for, for an artist of your calibre to kind of allow yourself, you know,
08:03take what's coming at, at you in, in terms of, you know, creative storytelling or, you know,
08:09blockbusters or commercial cinema?
08:11No, I think too much of thought thinking will spoil the fun.
08:16I think yes, go do what you want to do.
08:19Because you, you chose cinema first of all.
08:21You, you didn't choose all other, you know, now the, if you see the statistics, the percentage
08:28who become successful in cinema is lesser than in any other industry.
08:32Yeah.
08:33Okay.
08:34So the possibilities are lesser.
08:35So you're already taking up something which doesn't guarantee you anything.
08:40Right.
08:41You, you come here and then think a lot about how do I become successful if you want to.
08:45It's, if it's just about being successful, then you would have chosen some other industry
08:49in some other way because the odds are better.
08:52Yeah.
08:53If you chose cinema, then come do it, do how you want to.
08:55You chose something you love.
08:56Mm-hmm.
08:57Go do what you love.
08:58Simple.
08:59Yeah.
09:00And do you second that opinion?
09:01Absolutely.
09:02Yeah.
09:03That's why I was smiling.
09:04I was like, how nice, he nicely put that.
09:06Yeah.
09:07That if you want to be absolutely successful, then you, there are many other things that you
09:10can at least guarantee.
09:11The odds are better there.
09:12The creative space that you are stepping into, then I think you should be ready with.
09:15Yeah.
09:16That's one of the most expensive art forms that we have, cinema.
09:18Yeah.
09:19Yeah.
09:20Expense in the sense, yeah.
09:21Yeah.
09:22You can call it that, but it's still an art form at the end of the day.
09:24The business involved, but business people can do business with cinema.
09:29Mm-hmm.
09:30The, the artist should do what they love with cinema.
09:33Yeah.
09:34Okay.
09:35And Shani, with regards to your character of Mradula.
09:37Yeah.
09:38I saw the trailer and it left me asking for more.
09:40So if you could, you know, tell us just on the periphery about the character that you're playing.
09:44Um, I think the movie, Mradula, Mradula, Mradula, Mradula.
09:50Yeah.
09:51So, yeah.
09:52I don't know what to say, what not to say.
09:53The problem with crime thrillers.
09:54Yeah.
09:55Yeah.
09:56Yeah.
09:57Yeah.
09:58So, yeah.
09:59So I think you have seen Arjun Sarkar being all in his glory.
10:02Yeah.
10:03Yeah.
10:04I will add a little bit of a touch.
10:05Grace.
10:06To that glory.
10:07Yeah.
10:08A touch of grace.
10:09Grace to glory.
10:10Grace to glory.
10:11Mm-hmm.
10:12Um, I really hope audience love the pair.
10:14And, uh.
10:15They already do.
10:16I mean.
10:17Yeah.
10:18From at least back home.
10:19Yeah.
10:20I hope you'll all love.
10:21Love it.
10:22So, she does have a role to play in Arjun's life.
10:24And also, with respect to the plot.
10:27Which I unfortunately cannot say anything.
10:28So, yeah.
10:29We'll wait and watch.
10:30Okay.
10:31And, for my next question.
10:32You know, Indian cinema off late in the last 10, 10, 12 years.
10:36It has seen a meteoric rise on the global scale as well.
10:39Uh.
10:40The pan and deaf and movement.
10:41It started with Bahubali.
10:42And, you know, it came more into prominence as, as the industry went forward.
10:45Uh.
10:46Payal Kapadia went to Khan.
10:48Uh.
10:49Triple R went to Oscars.
10:50Uh.
10:51How do you see the Indian cinema in its entirety?
10:53Telugu, Hindi, Malayalam, Bengali.
10:55Moving forward on the global platform.
10:57Here on.
10:58Anyone can take the lead and start.
11:00Hmm.
11:01Okay.
11:02I want to get you.
11:03Uh.
11:04You know, that's a great thing.
11:05It's amazing because I think it's, uh.
11:07Uh.
11:08We're in times where you cannot really.
11:10You don't have to struggle after making a great film to spread the word of mouth.
11:15We have social media.
11:16We have different kinds of means to reach out.
11:19People will, if there's a great film which comes out.
11:22In one end of the country.
11:25Or the other end of the country, we'll know it in two days.
11:28Hmm.
11:29We're in that generation, right?
11:30And, uh.
11:31And because of all this, in general, the kind of films which have been coming out of our country.
11:37Uh.
11:38Like RR going to Oscars and all that, for example.
11:40We're making a lot of noise internationally also.
11:43And I think it kind of opens a lot of doors.
11:46For all of us.
11:47Uh.
11:48To think big.
11:49Dream big.
11:50You know, vision big and everything.
11:53So, it is definitely a very, very positive and a welcome thing.
11:57And I'm extremely proud of those films which made it already.
12:00And I'm really looking forward to all those, this, all those films which are going to make it very soon.
12:05Hmm.
12:06Okay.
12:07And Srinadi, would you like to add anything?
12:08Hmm.
12:09I think you said it very perfectly.
12:10I said it perfectly.
12:11Okay.
12:12And continuing further, in the last seven, eight years, you know, there's a floodgate of content that has opened.
12:18OTT also, we see every two, three projects coming every day.
12:21Every, uh, five, seven projects every week.
12:24And then you have cinema as well.
12:26Uh.
12:27Such vast sea of content.
12:28Uh.
12:29Do you think for any artist, actor, storyteller, director, it has now become more difficult to tell a story with a difference?
12:37Uh.
12:38Uh, don't, don't think it will become difficult.
12:41I think, I'll look at it in a different way.
12:43Hmm.
12:44Any storyteller or anyone have to push themselves a little more.
12:48And which is very good because they get to, they get to meet their best selves.
12:53Like, at least now, they won't be lazy anymore.
12:57Hmm.
12:58So, in a way, it is, the whole thing is doing very good to them.
13:01Hmm.
13:02Because they will really explore their potential better.
13:05So, all that, uh, whether, whichever industry it is, it's better that many, you know, too much options are there.
13:12Hmm.
13:13Because that is when you'll start thinking, how do I be very different from what is existing.
13:18Yeah.
13:19Which is a good thing.
13:20Yeah.
13:21Or in the end, audience benefit.
13:22Yeah.
13:23Okay.
13:24Okay.
13:25But, uh, on the contrary, Shinedhi, do you feel that, you know, such vast amount of content,
13:28uh, does it induce a lethargy for the audience because they have to, you know, economics changing?
13:34You know, costs are rising.
13:36How does a large, uh, amount of content, uh, get lethargy?
13:39You know, they'll have more options to watch, no?
13:40Mm-hmm.
13:41To explore.
13:42Hmm.
13:43I don't know.
13:44But there's everything, every new project coming out, a week or two, you know, big projects
13:47coming out.
13:48In fact, it's reduced now, I guess.
13:49It was way more before.
13:50Yeah.
13:51It's reduced.
13:52What happens?
13:53Oh, but maybe the, the online access is more.
13:55Mm-hmm.
13:56So, that's more, it's, it's all the more, uh, easier for them to sit and watch.
13:59I don't think that's making them lethargy at all.
14:01And for my last question, there are reports and rumours about, uh, you being approached
14:06by C.P. Chakravarti for a film which is more on the humorous side.
14:09Is there any truth to it?
14:10Nothing, not, uh, it's not a rumour or anything.
14:13We have been discussing, uh, not just we, we have three, four other things which, uh,
14:19are in my pipeline which the discussions have been happening from a long time.
14:23Mm-hmm.
14:24So, but we don't know what comes first, what goes on, when and all that still.
14:28Yeah.
14:29Okay.
14:31So, God.