Producer turned distributor Abhishek Nama clarified that he didn’t ask for money from young actor Vijay Devarakonda, although his tweet went viral wherein he claimed that he lost Rs 8 crores by releasing World Famous Lover, a few years ago. “I wanted him to do a film for us as we lost 80% of our money in distributing World Famous Lover, but he didn’t respond for 3 years,” says Abhishek. He also claimed that he was a bit irked when Vijay announced Rs 1 lakh compensation for 100 families when he had a lot of commitments in the film industry itself.
Q: Why are you asking money from Vijay Devarakonda for the losses in ‘World Famous Lover’ instead of producer KS Rama Rao?
A: I want to make it clear once and for all that I am not asking even a rupee from Vijay Devarakonda since we know he's not the producer of ‘World Famous Lover’. K S Rama Rao was in dire straits after making ‘World Famous Lover’ and even pledged properties to clear the pending remuneration to Vijay Devarakonda, who was unwilling to promote the film. When he received the payment, he just attended one event in Vizag and one at Hyderabad and wrapped up promotions, unlike now where is doing extensive promotions. When he announced Rs 1 lakh for 100 families, we reminded him about the losses we incurred by distributing World Famous Lover since it was Rs 8 crore cash. And we have been waiting for his dates to make a film and recover our losses, but he's left us in a lurch.
Q: Did Vijay Devarakonda promise to do a film for Abhishek Pictures?
A: His film ‘World Famous Lover’ ran into a lot of problems and the release was doubtful since producer K S Rama Roa was in a financial mess. Then Vijay's manager Anurag approached me and Nizam distributor Sunil Narang to help them out with financiers and the film was released. He also assured us that Vijay would do a film for us once World Famous Lover hit theatres, but later it bombed at the box office.
Q: Did you approach Vijay for a film?
A: Sunil Narang and I went to Vijay’s house and were asked to meet his father and manager. When we put in the proposal to make a film with him, his manager stated that he was now a pan-India star and worked only with filmmakers like Karan Johar. He asked us to bring a top director like Sanjay Leela Bhansali or Trivikram Srinivas to discuss the project and we said it would be difficult. Even today we are ready to pay him his market price to make a film and recover our huge losses. We are not asking for any money or compensation, but only seeking his dates as both of us, distributors have lost 12 to 13 crores together. But till date there's no reply from him.
Q: Is his latest release 'Kushi' losing steam?
A: The collections are dropping drastically and will not to be a profit-making venture for sure. His films are over-hyped, while box office figures are inflated to project fake collections. Actually, his market is dwindling and he has to understand this. If he is willing to make a proper film, we will get the right script and deliver a decent hit. But the ball is in his court. Otherwise, we have nothing personal against Vijay Devarkonda who is a talented actor.
