Promoting aggressively and innovatively his up-and-coming film is Vishnu. Ask him why and pat comes the reply that he is not only confident about its immense potential but also he wants to reach out to a larger audience to be able to mop up the costs as early as possible.

In this exclusive interview to IndiaGlitz, the DNR star talks about what went into adapting a Malayalam film's story, his expectations, about his two lovely daughters and more.

Excerpts:

Everyone said it is great:

After the first copy was out yesterday, I showed the film to my close friends and industry buddies. Everyone said that they thoroughly liked it. The best compliment came from Sreenu Vytla, who said that DNR is like two Dhee's.

Dhee was a trend-setter film in my career. A number of films on the lines of that entertainer have been made in the last five years. I must say that I am the natural legatee of Dhee. So, the responsibility is more on me to make a film that betters that one. DNR is the answer.

Vytla garu is not a person who praises a film just because he is close to me. His wife, Rupa, who is like a sister, and my wife give me compliments but I don’t take what they say to me seriously – they like me whatever I do. But when Vytla garu said that, my confidence only increased.

The Hindu-Muslim element:

In the film, my father is a Muslim while my mother is a Hindu. It is the triggering point for the story. It is shown in a very funny fashion. In real life, my wife is a Christian while I am a Hindu who stands by the Hindutva steam of thinking. Are my twin daughters Hindu or Christian? They will be brought up by being told that whoever we may worship to, we pray for our well-being.

Vishnu-Brahmi combination:

After this film, it will be difficult to better a comedy track like this for both of us. If Brahmanandam was good in Dhee, you will find him extraordinary in DNR. After this, I will have to be very careful when teaming up with him again.

The songs:

I must thank Yuvan Shankar Raja and Chakri for the good music. Manoj was instrumental in bringing out one of the songs. All of them are situational. The Nalage nenu.. song reflects my personality. I don’t see anyone as my boss in my life. I feel like singing two other songs whenever I see my twin daughters, one for each of them.

The aggressive promotion:

The film’s budget is Rs. 15 cr, which exceeds my market value. It has become imperative to recoup the costs in the first few days. We are very confident about the film. The film may collect Rs. 25 cr or Rs. 35 cr or Rs. 50 cr. I do not know what is in fate. But if I want to enlarge my profit margins, I should reach out to a larger audience and that is what I am doing. The film will be released in Malayalam and big in Karnataka, where the Telugu version will release.

The inspiration:

The inspiration is a Malayalam film. But BVS Ravi garu made many improvements and modifications. He wanted to turn a director with this story but when Nanna garu insisted that he wanted it, he gave it to us. Kona Venkat and Gopi Mohan contributed in their own way to develop the story. I must thank Marudhuri Raja for the dialogues. It is our 4th film together. All the writers worked under the able guidance of the Captain – G Nageshwara Reddy.

Taking suggestions:

In Hollywood, producers go to a small village and screen their movie to gauge the audience response. It doesn’t happen in India. The idea behind screening movies to those close in the industry is that they might come up with some helpful suggestions. If you have doubts related to construction of a building, you go to an engineer, not a layman.

Working with Hansika:

It was great working with Hansika. She is beautiful and a thorough professional. I have never felt like joining hands with any other heroine again, except Hansika.

Dream project:

Ravana is my dream project. Yes, it is happening. It will fructify sometime in the second half of 2013. If I speak about the film, it will take an hour for me. Pre-production work has been done. There is going to be animation, and more. It is like 300, Lord of the Rings – there is everything in it.

The multi-starrer trend: