Koratala Siva is confident about the April 29th release, 'Acharya'. In this interview, he talks about the film, what is to be expected from it, working experience with Megastar and Mega Power Star, and more.

He also talks about a dream project, Jr NTR's 30th film, ticket price hikes, etc.

Highlights:

I know the kind of commercial star Chiranjeevi garu is. 'Acharya' does full justice to his histrionics, image, and canvas. It is not hard to write a story for such a big star. At any rate, 'Acharya' is not an experimental film. I have played it safe this time.

In any film, the fight of the hero is for Dharma. 'Acharya' merely underlines the truth. This is a drama full of commercial highs. The way the protagonist reacts in a different way is what sets 'Acharya' from other movies.

The temple town backdrop is unique. How a Naxalite ends up in the town is interesting to watch. It's a curious mix.

Coming to Siddha, played by Ram Charan, youngsters would want to be natural and beautiful like him. He smiles and loves peace. Acharya is aggressive. The way they deal with a situation is contrasting. But their goal is the same.

The Naxalism backdrop has not been explored in a deep fashion. Maoist ideology, battles, etc. haven't been touched upon. It's just a backdrop and nothing more. In my 45 years of life, I have read a lot about Naxals.

It is true that the 'Mirchi' action scenes are enjoyed a lot by the audience to this day. You can expect 'Acharya', too, to feature engaging, engrossing blocks.

Both Chiranjeevi garu and Charan are big commercial stars. Strong expressions in the script, in terms of dialogues, for example, are there in the movie. But everything is commercial. Both the stars have been balanced out. You will also enjoy the scenes involving both of them, not just only one of them. Ram Charan's character will be there from interval until the climax.

Budgets are decided on the basis of the script. If the script demands a large canvas, you will have to make a big-scale movie.

Chiranjeevi garu did give inputs extempore. At times, I would disagree if his ideas are not in sync with the spirit of the film. He never disturbed me when I was writing the script. He merely asked me to keep commercial aspects in mind. That's all!

The temple set is spectacular. Credit goes to the producer of investing a big sum. The art director (Suresh Selvarajan) and the cinematographer (Thirru) researched the temple architecture to understand finer details. Kudos to them.

I don't know when but I want to make a film on Swami Vivekananda, a film that reaches everyone around the world. His influence on India is massive. He was a great personality whose gospel needs to be spread to the whole world. Attenborough's 'Gandhi' was a big-scale movie. I want to make such a movie about Vivekananda.

I am ready to produce small films. In fact, I want to see my assistants become filmmakers of worth. During the making of 'Acharya', I asked them to leave me as soon as possible and pursue their dream of becoming directors. After all, they had to travel with me for 4 years.

I am neither a Leftist nor a Rightist. I am a Centrist. If you go in the wrong direction, you will suffer accidents (laughs).

I am yet to discuss updates with Tarak garu about our next film. I know his strengths. This time, it is not going to be like 'Janatha Garage'. I am writing a high-voltage drama for him and it will be made to reach the maximum number of audience members. More details can be expected after 10 days. Without discussing anything with him, it is not proper on my part to out updates. Let his birthday (May 20) come.

There is a lot to learn from Chiranjeevi garu. His patience is extraordinary. He has acted in 151 movies and yet, he is empathetic towards one and all on set. I don't know if I can be that patient in life!

The audiences don't go by trends. They are preoccupied with their private lives. They are not film personalities to think about movies 24/7. They don't say, 'We have to wait for such and such movie and watch only such movies'. If a film is good, they will flock to theatres.

The hike in ticket prices is inevitable. Most makers are bothered about merely recovering their costs. Nobody wants to loot the audience's money. 'Acharya' makers had to shell out a lot of money towards the payment of interest. Our concern is to recover our investments and costs. We are not desperate. Once the situation is back to normalcy, ticket price hikes will not happen. I don't think producers, distributors and exhibitors are shooting themselves in the foot by hiking prices.