Manchu Vishnu has played a scamster in 'Mosagallu', which will hit the screens on March 29. In this interview, the actor talks about the USP of the movie, how challenging it was to produce the expensive multi-lingual, teaming up with big names such as Suniel Shetty and Kajal Aggarwal, his upcoming movie 'D&D' with Sreenu Vaitla and more. He also says that his family members are tensed because he has spent a bomb on 'Mosagallu'.

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Don't ever believe if an actor says that he is not tensed before the release of a movie. 'Mosagallu' has cost me more than twice what my market is. As a producer, I have spent a lot on the thriller because I totally believed in the story.

I came to know about an IT scam when on a visit to the US. I happened to know more about the same scam on another occasion. I felt that the universe was telling me to make a film on the scandal.

A brother and his sister (played by Kajal) live in a basthi in Hyderabad and devise a plan to ruin the families of thousands of American families. They are greedy and dupe the gullible. Many Indians believe that Americans are richer by definition. In fact, we Indians lead better lives compared to them. The film is about how the scamsters game the system.

Had I not been the film's hero, I would have wanted to play the character played by Naveen Chandra, who has played an edgy character in the movie.

I haven't met the brother-sister fraudster duo in real life. The duo has claimed that they are innocent. 'Mosagallu' chronicles their entire journey. It was I who wrote the first draft of the story. The original story is shocking. What you are going to see in 'Mosagallu' is a different version.

Suniel Shetty's character is a patriotic cop. I met the real-life DCP whose character has inspired the character. When we decided to go pan-India, I suggested Shetty's name.

Preity Zinta was approached for the role that Kajal Aggarwal went on to play. She was scared to essay the role because she has been settled in the US and therefore didn't want to touch a subject of this kind. Kajal was my next choice. She is a sport.

Director Jeffrey Chin is quite young. He doesn't care how big you are. For him, we are his actors. As a producer, I didn't interfere in the process of making barring one occasion when I wanted the shoot to be wrapped up for the day before schedule.

I had to spend 20% of the budget on buying insurance for my technicians. It's a lot of learning experience. In Indian filmmaking parlance, someone who spends money is called a producer. In Hollywood, he is a financier/studio.

I took the help of writer Diamond Ratnababu for story development. The film needed a dose of sentiment. Ninety percent of the movie is true to life. Ten percent has been dramatized.

With the budget going up, I decided to make 'Mosagallu' as a five-language film. Moreover, it's a universal story. I have dubbed for my character only in Telugu.

Actors who are popular in more than one language have worked on the movie. I am familiar to the Kannada and Malayalam audiences, too. We know how popular Kajal Aggarwal and Suniel Shetty are.

'Mosagallu' is releasing in Chattisgarh in 40 theatres. The Telugu version is releasing in 30 theatres. I am told that a lot of people there watch Telugu movies. It may sound funny but that's the truth. In Karnataka, more than 130 theatres are going to screen our movie. Most of them will be in the Telugu version.

Nanna garu (Mohan Babu) has watched the movie as an audience. Based on his feedback, we added four scenes to the Telugu version so that the scam becomes clear-cut. The scenes are not there in the English version. The Indian version is 2 hrs 10 minutes. The international version is 55 minutes shorter.

I invested all that I have in producing this movie. I bit more than what I can chew. Due to the pandemic, the costs only went up. The fate of the movie will be clear in two days.

More than me, my family members are feeling pressured ahead of the release of the movie. It's because I have taken a big risk with 'Mosagallu'. If you don't take a risk, what is the purpose of life? Only after the film releases will I be able to say what 'Mosagallu' has taught me.

'Mosagallu' is a commercial movie sans the regular song-n-dance routine. The lockdown has helped the audience get exposed to global cinema. They are now ready to prepare serious subjects like 'Mosagallu'.

As a producer, I will be bankrolling three web series. Details about them will be divulged in April. Srinu Vaitla garu is still working on the script of 'D&D'. He is working with a vengeance. I had been asking him to make a film with me since the release of 'Dhee'.

'D&D' needs me to physically transform myself. I will shape up completely in the next 45 days. I have had to spend five hours a day in the gym. Every movie is an experiment. Filmmakers have to constantly offer something new to the audience.