Nagarjuna's Wild Dog is about patriotism

Nagarjuna’s film Wild Dog is based on the series of bomb blasts that took place in India in 2007, including the twin blasts at Hyderabad. Director Ashishor Solomon says he was excited and thrilled to do a film with strong patriotic values.

“While I was reading books on how the NIA (specially formed to counter terror attacks) investigated the bomb blasts, I saw the effort and sacrifices that the personnel made. The undercover operations gave me goosebumps. I could see the spirit of patriotism in them, and that inspired patriotism in me and motivated me to pen the story,” he says, adding, “My core inspiration was the fact that the investigation officers risked their lives to do something for their country.”

Nagarjuna will be seen as the NIA officer who leads the team mandated to nab the terrorists responsible for the bomb blasts. “I have done extensive research, read several books, got information from my friends in the media so that I could write a realistic and intense drama,” he shares. about the April 2 release.

The director also justifies the title, Wild Dog. “In the character’s life the wildest decision he took was joining the NIA. It’s a ruthless profession, and he discovers several things in the course of the investigation.”

When he narrated the story to Nag, the actor was game for it. “He gave the film the green signal at our second sitting,” says Solomon. The challenge for the director is to show Nag, a romantic hero, (Manmadhudu), as an action hero.

“There are no songs in the film, but Nag sir wasn’t surprised about that. He is someone who loves to experiment with films. Initially I was a bit apprehensive about how he would react to a film without songs, but he was fully convinced with the script,” recalls the director.

The film was half done when the lockdown happened last year. Getting permissions for shooting in overseas locations like Bangkok, Nepal, Sikkim, etc., naturally became tough.

“That was one of the most challenging aspects. Finally, we shot at Manali for 30 days in freezing temperature after the lockdown was lifted. In fact, ours was the first film with a  superstar to resume shooting,” he says.