Shekar Kammula knows his audience well. Saying that he will not write a story for a big star for the sake of doing that, Tollywood’s finest filmmaker says that LIB is releasing in a changed business scenario.

Describing LIB as both joyful and emotional, Kammula says that the film will be a benchmark film for films in feel-good, colony genre.

Excerpts:

Risk?:

The success of Anand gave me so much confidence, because I won people’s faith. So, I never felt that it would be risky to go for newcomers.

Open to outside stories:

I am very much open to stories written by others. But so far, I have been listening to only my kind of stories. I should find a wow element to go for someone else’s story.

My signature:

My films are mainly watched by educated, middle-class section which aspires for a good campus film, feel-good romances, an idealistic leader, et al. If I don’t make such movies, there will be void.

Teluguness:

I am not well-read in Telugu literature or poetry. In fact, I use lot of English words in my speech. But I love and respect my language. I ensure that the lyrics reflect the richness of the language, and the ambience mirrors the culture.

Irreplaceable Veturi:

Veturi was like a pillar. He is of course irreplaceable. Vanamali had written for Happy Days. So I chose him again. Additionally, Ananth Sriram made a good writer for LIB. The lyrics of LIB exude optimism, the joy of happy living.

The idea of LIB:

If Happy Days may be said to be the library film for feel-good campus genre films, LIB will be of the same order in case of colony genre. If 10 years down the line someone wants to know how close-knit colonies and large families lived a life of jollification, they should see LIB as a benchmark film.

The 'amma' song:

Vanamali's song has already become a hit, but I feel that it will become a bigger hit after the film releases. There have been many ‘amma’ songs, but this one doesn’t over-sentimentalise. It is moving, sans melodrama.

No calculation behind casting:

I never planned that Shriya, Amala and Anjala Zaveri should be part of the cast. After I wrote the script, things started falling in place. Shirya carries that aura of a rich woman with middle class sensibilities. Anjala, I felt, was very beautiful and would fit the bill. As regards Amala, she is a perfect choice but was very difficult to convince. I did not rope them in for publicity. All that matters to me is suitability.

In fact, there is a massy character called Nagaraj, who comes with a typical Hyderabadi lingo and entertains a lot.

No agenda:

I have no agenda of reaching out to a larger audience for the sake of doing that. If ever there was a different Shekar Kammula, it was when I made Leader. If Happy Days was for youngsters, LIB is for both youngsters and family audiences.

Why a big release:

Till Leader, all my films were 100-days ones. In the last 2-3 years, however, business dynamics have seen a major shift. Now costs have to be recovered within the first 2-3 weeks. Multiplexes have grown in number; piracy has become rampant. We can’t wait for word of mouth to spread so as to register an increase in the collections. By then pirated DVDs would have become ubiquitous. Business is Hollywood-style nowadays.

The budget of LIB is double than that of Happy Days. The production values are better and the budget is comparable to that of a star film, minus the star remuneration. That is the reason why I am going for a big release. This is the first film of mine releasing in a changed scenario and in the environment of this new-found euphoria.

Cinema first, money last:

To me, it is important that my film doesn’t come with flaws, which may get discovered only post facto if I were to wrap it up quickly for the sake of doing two films in a year. I could definitely cash on my goodwill, but I am not the kind who measures everything in monetary terms. I love cinema; money comes last.

Why U/A:

All my films have got U rating. The Censor Board wanted to give LIB U/A because beer bottles are seen in the frame thrice. Though a character boozes, he doesn’t talk vulgarly but talks logically.

I did justice to Leader:

There is no doubt that Leader connected well with my target audience. To this day, whenever I pay