Everyone knew that the producer had turned director for ‘Devil’ but very few knew that leading star Kalyan Ram was reportedly unhappy with director Naveen Medaram. He was replaced since he couldn’t handle a big-ticket film like ‘Devil’. “After observing Naveen for just a couple of days, Kalyan Ram realized that Naveen was not well-equipped to direct an epic movie and expressed his displeasure to team members,” says an industry source. He further adds, “Kalyan was shocked to find Naveen sleeping on the sets and was not showing necessary interest. In fact, two other technicians also left the movie unable to work with director Naveen, so he was replaced by the producer,’ he adds.
Unwilling to halt a big ticket extravaganza, producer Abhishek Nama turned director and had to work doubly hard to deliver a path-breaking spy thriller revolving around a secret British Agent,’ “It wasn’t an easy project to take over but still with confidence in his writer Srikanth Vissa and cinematographer Soundarrajan, Abhishek called the shots and completed the movie,” he points out.
He claims that Naveen Medaram made films like ‘Babu Baga Busy’ and was not able to do justice to a film set in the pre-Independence era. "With Kalyan Ram raising doubts along with top technicians about amateurish directorial skills, he was to be removed,” the source adds. Armed with a 5-year Fine Arts course at JNU, Abhishek made this Rs 40 crore movie interesting and gripping. After background score, the film is slated for release in January next,’ he concludes.
It remains to be seen whether Abhishek Nama will continue directing his productions or he will hire regular directors like in the past. He is primarily a distributor-who-turned-producer and now wields the megaphone. When contacted, Abhishek was unavailable to comment.
Meanwhile, Kalyan Ram delivered a blockbuster 'Bimbisara' but failed to impress with 'Amigos'. He is also pinning hopes on this spy thriller since his looks and teaser have been well-received.
