Karthik Dandu says, Real Life Horrors are his inspiration for Virupaksha
on Apr 26, 2023
Director Karthik Dandu has scored a spine chilling blockbuster hit with his recently released supernatural thriller, Virupaksha. Produced by BVSN Prasad and Sukumar, the film has turned out to be the biggest hit in hero Sai Dharam Tej’s career. Karthik Varma recently met with the media to share his happiness over the film’s success.
Talking about his family, he said "I was brought up in Vizag. My father passed away when I was in college. My mother is a strong woman and it is she who brought me up. My brother migrated to Kuwait and supported our family financially."
Talking about picking horror film, he said "Horror is my favourite genre. Horror movies have a wide set of audience. "Many I know watch horror movies when they want to chill out in their free time. That's why films like 'Arundhati' attained a high status." There have been no sincere, honest, bona fide horror movies in Telugu for years. Horror comedies have been there, but I wanted to make a proper film with horror elements."
Sharing about the spark behind Virupaksha, he said "I read a news report about the murder of a woman on the suspicion that she was a witch. The innocent woman was lynched to death in a village somewhere in North India in 2016 or so. What if she really knew black magic? Wouldn't it have put her killers in danger? That's the spark behind 'Virupaksha'."
Talking about being Sukumar's student, he said "Till 2018, I was not Sukumar garu's disciple. After I narrated the story of 'Virupaksha', my journey with him began. Since 2018, I have been his disciple, I must say. He is the project-maker of 'Virupaksha'. It was he who decided that BVSN Prasad must be the producer and Sai Dharam Tej must play the lead role. About 6-7 versions of screenplay were written. With Sukumar garu, the story remains the same but the treatment undergoes improvements. The best thrilling moment in the climax came from Sukumar garu."
Talking about Sukumar's reaction after watching the movie, he said "Sukumar sir called me last night. He is very happy and proud. In fact, he was the only person who believed in me when no one believed in me or my script. He felt that Virupaksha needed a bigger canvas and he only got producer BVSN Prasad and Sai Dharam Tej on board."
Talking about casting Samyukta Menon for a strong role in the film, he said "It was my idea to cast her. I felt that we needed an actress who was just 1, 2 movies old to play Nandini. We believed in her performance and she has done complete justice to her role. One of my ADs had chosen Ravi after he performed well in the auditions."
Ajaneesh Loknath completed his work in just 6.5 days. He had time constraints. Raja Krishna's sound design is equally creditable. The train scene in the first half is getting universal acclaim.
Talking about the idea behind metaphorical names for the characters, he said "Her name is Nandini because Nandi is Lord Shiva's 'vahanam'. The name of the village is Rudravanam, which has a Shiva connection. We named the hero as Surya, as he brings out the village from darkness into light. Several names are metaphorical.
Talking about Sai Tej accident effect on Virupaksha, he said "When Sai Dharam Tej was hospitalized for 22 days in 2021 after his road accident, I was devastated. It was like I was in a coma myself. I regained strength only after the hospital issued a statement saying that he was safe. During his recuperation, I reworked some ideas to make it even better. He underwent speech therapy to fix his speech issues, and also participated in dance classes to make his body flexible. He struggled for the first three days on set. Later on, everything was alright."
Sharing about the appreciation and offers he received, he said "Many producers and directors have called me in recent days. I have not accepted an advance amount from any producer so far. I have got 2-3 consummate ideas in mind for my next film. During our journey, me and Sukumar sir had discussed an interesting idea. He is quite impressed with it. Horror and thriller genres are my biggest strengths."
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