Koratala Siva is relaxed a day before the release of his third film. Taking about NTR's character, working with Mohanlal, his remuneration, desire to work with Prabhas, and more.

On the genesis of 'Janatha Garage':

I had no particular inspiration in writing the story. I had had a story line in mind. The initial idea was to build a story around what happens when a character who protects Nature crosses paths with someone who protects people.

On roping in NTR:

NTR was the first choice for the role of Anand. The script was written keeping none in mind, but after NTR came on board, the character sketch was adapted to suit his body language. I gave him the narration when he was doing 'Rabhasa'. The film got pushed further till August that year. I had committed myself to UTV and had to do 'Srimanthudu'.

Boring character as hero:

We find Environmental activists boring. They don't interest us, but they keep on fighting their cause. They think of everyone's problems as theirs. What is such a so-called boring individual is the hero of a mainstream film? That's what Anand (NTR's character) is.

Mohanlal, the complete actor:

Mohanlal garu was consciously the actor whom I kept in mind all through the scripting stage. While giving narration to NTR, I used his name instead of the character's name. Everything done, we wanted to give a try and approached him. We were skeptical, but when he heard the narration, he told me, "I was offered many films in Telugu, but the roles were not intense enough".

Like everyone, I too was jittery on the first day of working with him. He made us feel comfortable by behaving like a learner. He told me he would approach the role as I wanted him to. He told me that if he went about being himself, it would me Mohanlal and not the character. "I wouldn't have done 300 movies if I acted like myself. People would have been bored of watching the same Mohanlal", he said.

Nithya Vs Samantha:

Both Nithya Menen and Samantha have almost equal space in the story. As for who ends up being NTR's pair, you have to watch it on the big screen.

Family emotions:

There is good span for family emotions in 'Janatha Garage'. There are many characters. The hero is not an orphan.

DSP, the tried and tested talent:

When I have two successful stints with Devi Sri Prasad, why should I think of going for a new one. A hero like NTR needs five commercial songs. In 'Janatha Garage', only two of the songs have dances. I thought DSP would be most apt for the story. As soon as I said that I was looking for a hymn-like hero-based number, he dished out 'Pranaamam..'.

Kajal replaced Tamannah:

Tamannah's name was never finalized. We mooted a few names and then, the producers came up with Kajal Aggarwal's name. They felt she would be more fresh than Tamannah for the song. I went along with the idea.

Comedy, not his cup of tea. Not as yet:

When audiences are involved in a story, why should I risk disturbing them by having comedy scenes? First of all, it's hard to bring audience to the theatre nowadays. Having attracted them, it would make no sense to disturb their attention. Entertainment can be produced through emotions. We don't expect comedy from a 'Baahubali', for example.

On working with Cherry:

I would want to work with all. The reason the project with Ram Charan didn't come through is because we felt we were making compromises. There was a sense of dissatisfaction with the way the script was turning out. Finally, I told him that we should mutually agree to shelve the idea for now as he too seemed to be saying yes to some of my suggestions half-heartedly.

Trimming 'Janatha Garage', a rumour:

There is no truth in the rumour that we have trimmed up to 8 minutes after the censor formalities. The run-time is 2:38 mins. We are going to add 10 more mins of content after a week's time.

On once again working with Prabhas:

Why not? I will be happy to work with him again. He is currently busy with 'Baahublai' and has a project lined up after that. When he is free of commitments, we will team up again if things fall in place.

The future:

I don't know what kind of films I will make in future. It all depends on what strikes, etc. I am just two-films-old and all that I am looking at is settling down.

Highest paid director?:

How would I know if I am among the highest paid directors when I don't know how much others are paid? (Laughs). I am paid well and am happy about the fee I get.