Producers Sunil Narang and Pushkar Ram Mohan Rao open up about their ambitious bilingual project Kuberaa, starring Dhanush, Nagarjuna, and Rashmika Mandanna. Backed by director Sekhar Kammula’s signature storytelling, the film explores a unique conflict between a beggar and a billionaire, set against the backdrop of real locations like Mumbai slums and dumping yards
Suresh Kavirayani
sureshkavirayani@gmail.com
Director Sekhar Kammula is now coming up with the film Kuberaa, which stars Dhanush, Nagarjuna, and Rashmika Mandanna. Sunil Narang and Pushkar Ram Mohan Rao are jointly producing this film and spoke about it on Thursday. Both expressed happiness over how the film has shaped up. Sekhar Kammula, who has primarily worked with newcomers and mid-range actors, is for the first time directing stars like Dhanush, Nagarjuna, and Rashmika. How did he handle these stars, and was there any pressure on him?
“Actually, Sekhar Kammula never looks at them as stars; he always sees them as characters, not as Nagarjuna and Dhanush,” said Ram Mohan. “He is a different kind of filmmaker where the characters speak in his films. In this film too, you can see his style. The story is about the conflict between the poorest man in the world (a beggar) and the richest man in the world (a billionaire),” he added.
Answering another question, the producer shared that Rashmika Mandanna was roped in for the film even before Pushpa 2 released. “She is now a national-level star, but we signed her three years ago. She has done a fantastic job in this one too,” said the producer.
When asked why they chose Tamil actor Dhanush over a Telugu actor, Sunil Narang responded, “If you narrate the story, will just anyone accept it immediately? Dhanush is looking for different kinds of roles and subjects, so when we approached him, he immediately agreed to do it.”
One of the major challenges for the film was shooting at real locations. “We shot in the Bombay slums, which was a real challenge. Everyone knows how busy Mumbai roads are, and we shot there for nearly 25 days. We also shot in other real locations like dumping yards. The biggest challenge for us as producers was obtaining all the permissions and ensuring smooth shooting, but the real challenge was with the actors, who worked extremely hard at these locations,” said the producers.
When Sekhar wrote the story, he first envisioned Nagarjuna in the role. “We too wanted to work with Nag sir. He liked the story immediately, and we never imagined any other actor in this role. He delivered a fantastic performance,” said the producers. They added that they never thought about the budget while making this film. “Whatever the film needed, we put in that money. We are releasing the film on a large scale across around 1600 screens,” said Sunil.
The producers confirmed that the film was made as a bilingual. “We shot the film in Telugu and Tamil, and dubbed it into Hindi and other languages,” said Ram Mohan. He added that Dhanush is known across languages. “His films release in Telugu, he has acted in many Hindi films, and is currently working on another one. Rashmika is now a big star in Hindi too. Nagarjuna has also done Hindi films and is a known face. So, we believe this film will do well in Hindi and other languages too,” said the producer.
