Sampoornesh Babu's Martin Luther King directed by Puja Kolluru is releasing on 27 October 2023. The film features Sr Naresh in an important role and also stars Venkat Maha and Saranya Pradeep in key roles.

Ahead of the film release, Sr Naresh shared his thoughts on Martin Luther King.

Who will become King with this Film?

Everyone knows who will becoming the King. Basically I travelled with Maha since Uma Maheswara Ugrarupaya. The current phase of Telugu cinema belongs to the young generation of filmmakers, and that's the reason why I am here. ‘Martin Luther King’ is an absolute entertainer with a bullet-like message in it. Generally, it is rare we find a movie that has a message and also entertainment.

We started early premiers from Vizag to Warangal and this has been a new trend which we started with Samajavaragamana. If we have confidence on the film,we show the film to the viewers before the theatrical release. I watched with a packed house in Warangal, ladies including all age groups and children watched the show. There were claps, cheers, and roars everywhere throughout the runtime. That was the response we got for ‘Martin Luther King.’

Experience with the Youngsters

Many youngsters are coming with new and interesting subjects and over the last one month, I heard more than 14 stories.

More about the film

Everyone knows that people tastes different dishes according to the season. Now in the political season, heat is on in two Telugu states and this film is a political satire. Coming to the film, Maha provided the screenplay, dialogues and also played a pivotal character in the film and Pooja Kolluru directed it. Sampoornesh Babu played the lead role and it is like second life for him.

More than 40 newcomers are introduced with this film. It is a good experience for everyone including me. Of late hereditary politis and family rule is increasing across the country in various states. This film is an entertaining take on politics and highlights the importance of voting and sends the message that voter is the king.

Coming to my Role

My role got good response during the premiers. I played the role of president and try to promote hereditary character. It's enjoying and entertaining. Maha character is another rival politician. Actual politics happen in villages. The film has an interesting plot in the backdrop of Ongole under scorching sun. For me it is a wonderful character and Maha it is good and different characters. All the characters are grounded to reality.

About the Script and enhancing it

The beauty of the script is that it has so many newcomers working for it. Workshops have been conducted with all the 60 artistes of the film. The new-age cinema has broken the rules of moviemaking. There is no set formula that you can say would work. ‘Martin Luther King’ is an absolute entertainer and every character offers a unique flavour. The music scored by Smaran Sai is another added highlight of the film. The story is told with thematic songs and background score and you would hear the voice of Martin Luther King's voice as the reference to one of the scenes. It's a rare film. Cinematography takes the film to another level with the coloring.

On Director Pooja

She did a good job. Now women are showing their power in all the professions and with 33 % reservation in Parliament, they are set to reach new heights. I am the female director's son and of late I have been starring in female directors direction. Future is female directors.

On variations in characters in the film

The film has roles for politicians followers. Pooja has taken absolute care to each and every minute detail. After the film, many new actors will gain recognition. There are very novel things like two regions in a village and people speaking different accents. There are characters like Bata, Smile etc. Venkat Maha script is very powerful. I appear in a completely different getup. Filmmaking underwent lot of changes.

On film being the remake of Tamil film Mandela

More than saying it as a remake, it is inspired by the events that happened in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. Of course, it has the basis of the original work. However, the political atmosphere of the Telugu States is entirely different from other regions. It is a fresh film. I think the youth will get more attracted to the film during this election time.

What is your take on politics

I have been into politics and not just a witness to it. I am an emotional person and take decisions accordingly. In 2000, the failures of coalition politics moved me a lot and felt that a leader like Vajpayee should lead the country. At that time I worked dedicatedly entering the naxal zone and later I felt that I did my bit in politics and then even films invited me. There is no question in entering politics again. Politics changed from my time where we used to attack each other over ideologies, issue based but now it has become personal. I am very sad at the usage of obscene words.

Nothing is permanent in politics, but at present people are scared that one region may get vanquished. Even female politicians are crossing the thin red line. I am not targeting all the politicians as there are few good politicians also. Politicians life has become jail and bail.

Even Super Star Krishna came up with daring political films like Eenadu, Mandaladheesudu, Sahasame Na Upuri and he shone not only in films but also in politics. Film is a good and powerful medium. NTR showed the power of Telugu people through his party and now Pawan Kalyan is trying his best.