Interview with Neelima Tirumalasetti on Pawan Kalyan’s Panjaa!

Below is the article on the interview with Neelima Tirumalasetti on Panjaa – I found it on a blog and liked it, thought of sharing this with my friends – so posted here!

“Neelima Tirumalasetti is a rarity in the Telugu Film Industry. Not only is she a dynamic person, she is also one of the very few ladies who produce films in the Telugu industry. We caught up with her for an exclusive chitchat. Here is the transcript for you folks. Read and enjoy…

Q) The big day is approaching. You must be pretty nervous.

A) (She Smiles) Nope. In fact, I am quite relaxed as the movie has come out well and we are confident about what we made.

Q) What made you get into movie production?

A) Well, the simple reason is Pawan Kalyan. I am a big fan of his and I have worked with him in the operation of Yuvarajyam (Praja Rajyam Youth division). He always encouraged me and when he wanted to make a fresh new kind of movie, we decided that we would want to produce it. Shobhu and my husband Nagesh are good friends and thats how we got together to produce Panjaa

Q) How is the experience of making a movie with a top star like Pawan.

A) Well, this entire experience changed my life for the better. It has been enriching and rewarding, but it has also been very tiring. We always had Pawan Kalyan’s support. Vishnuvardhan is an excellent technician who knows what he wants and when you are in the hands of professionals, things become fairly uncomplicated.

Q) What is the most appealing aspect of Panjaa?

A) Panjaa is a very fresh film. The taking and characterization will be very new and we have attempted to introduce some new styles to the Telugu Film Industry. Every character will be remembered for the way it has been moulded. We want people to remember the characters and not the people who portrayed them. I have seen the first copy of the movie and I am happy that we have achieved what we wanted to achieve.

Q) Brahmanandam’s comedy track is becoming a major point of interest. What would you say about that?

A) We had a fabulous time when shooting for the Paparayudu Song. Brahmanandam portrays a very important character in the movie and he makes his entry in the latter half of the movie. Pawan and Brahmanandam share a wonderful chemistry and it will look fabulous on screen.

Q) What about Ali? You are not highlighting his character. Is that a conscious decision?

A) (Smiles). Well, Ali has a very key role in the movie and it would be better not to reveal it now. You will enjoy it when you watch it. He will be seen quite a lot in the first half of the movie and he will be Pawan’s associate.

Q) Can fans expect a blockbuster from Pawan with Panjaa?

A) Absolutely! The movie will appeal to Pawan’s fans tremendously and they will come out of the theaters with a smile. There will not be any masala punch dialogues in the movie. Dialogues will be subtle and will have depth like the dialogue in the trailer. Abburi Ravi has done a fabulous job.

Q) The heroines are new to the Telugu Industry. Is it a conscious decision to avoid established heroines?

A) Yes. When we set out to make a new film. we did not want to cast established actresses as they bring a certain image with them. We wanted fresh faces with no baggage.

Q) Is that the reason why Pawan has a beard throughout the movie?

A) Yes. When we heard the script and Vishnuvardhan’s narration, we decided that Pawan Kalyan should sport an all new look. Something that no one ever saw him with before. We screen tested him with the beard and we liked that. You will see that our faith has been justified.

Q) Apart from Pawan, Brahmanandam and the heroines, who else should the public watch out for?

A) Adivi Sesh has delivered a superb performance as a negative character. Same is the case with Jackie Shroff and Atul Kulkarni. They are the other principal characters in the movie and both of them have delivered a stunning performance.

Q) How would you rate Vishnuvardhan as a director? 

A) He is a top class guy. He has made sure that each and everyone delivered their best. He extracted every ounce of performance from the artistes and its not easy to do that. Even though the movie was shot in Kolkata, Polacchi and other places, the audience will not miss the Telugu nativity.

Q) What are your future plans?

A) I love this industry and I have grown both personally and professionally after I ventured into this field. A couple of discussions are going on and I will make films in future. The immediate next step would be a second massive release for Panjaa in Tamil. We plan to do that on a large scale worldwide.

With that, we ended the interview. Let us wish Neelima the very best for her maiden production ‘Panjaa’.”

After reading the entire article, my expectations on the movie Panjaa has doubled – read out these lines once again – “The immediate next step would be a second massive release for Panjaa in Tamil. We plan to do that on a large scale worldwide.”

Expectations and Assumptions on Pawan Kalyan’s Panjaa

Withover fifteen years (15 Movies) of experience in the film industry, “Power Star” Pawan Kalyan is now arrivingwith his Panjaa (with minimalpromotional activities from its makers) bringing huge expectations with in the movielovers (especially in megafans). 

I have my own set of assumptions and expectations on the outcome and collections of thismovie! Just for comparison, let us choose the recent blockbuster of theindustry “Mahesh Babu’s – Dookudu” – it has many similarities with Pawan Kalyan’sPanjaa. Both the celebrities have 16 Movies each in their kitty who were waitingto break all the existing box-office records from a long time. Though Maheshwith his last movie Khaleja (in combination with Jalsa Director – Trivikram)failed to achieve this target, has never failed to miss it with his 16^th movie – Dookudu. While Timing,Teamwork and Subject are the key elements of the success – Mahesh’s factorequals all these factors which helped the movie to become supersuccess. 

Same is the case with Panjaa (Pawan Kalyan who failed to break the records with his last two movies – Puli and TeenMaar) is pretty confident this time. With excellent teamwork, timing and subject coupled with Pawan’s presence in his 16^th Movie should prove the power star’s star power once again in a much bigger way! Not only the number game, it’s the peak level of his career and is also the crucial and must win situation for the star to prove his mettle in the industry (for which Pawan Kalyan did everything that he has to do). The movie has all the commercial aspects (specifically, Pawan mark – fights, comedy and dialogues) and is hitting maximum number of screens (as many as 1800) on the 9^th of December 2011, having advance bookings already opened in few centers. 

As always (for Pawan Kalyan’s Movie) before its release only, almost 50% of the tickets will be sold for the first three days and would collect nothing less than 20+ Crores, the movie has already made a business of around 50 Crores (through distribution, satellite and music rights) is all set to recreate the history by creating sensation – first day collections for the movie will not be less than 15 Crores (including advance bookings) and in the long run – by the third weekend it will reach 100+ Crores, and I am damn sure (after watching the making videos and trailers), Panjaa will certainly attract every segment of audience to the theatres for multiple times at least for the first few weeks and by 25^th December – the movie collects 100+ Crores (apart from pre-release business, which will be a rare feet in the history of telugu cinema). 

I have mentioned about the collections of the movie, since that is the only factor which can be used for measuring the power of the star in the current generation (at least in the business point of view). By changing his attitude towards a commercial movie, Pawan is now entertaining media to approach him for various interviews. Recently – Pawan also encouraged the makers of Panjaa in making a special interview on him! Just the highlights (less than 3 mins) of this interview got a huge response from the Power Star’s Fans and are now eagerly waiting for the blast! If this is the changed style of Pawan Kalyan, then one can expect the level of his dedication and efforts that he would have put for the movie (as per the demand from audience, unlike in his past movies).

Let’squickly look at the flash back of Pawan Kalyan’s career (in the table below) and my views and ratings for each of his projects and performances in it. For each and every movie of his, he puts lot of efforts and dedication but the only mistake he used to commit (until TeenMaar) was the selection of the subject and his characterization in the movie. But as mentioned above, the changed Pawan has also changed his style of selection of the subjects (as needed for a commercial movie) which will never let him down from now on!

Movie No.	Banner	Movie Name	Release Date	My Rating for Pawan Kalyan	Comment
1	Geetha Arts	Akkada Ammayi Ikkada Abbayi	11 Oct 1996	2 out of 5	Debut Movie, with few expectations
2	NSC Arts	Gokulamlo Seeta	22 Aug 1997	3 out of 5	Worked with  full of Determination
3	Supergood Films	Suswagatham	1 Jan 1998	3.25 out of 5	Zeal to learn – can be seen very clearly!
4	NSC Arts	Tholi Prema	24 July 1998	4 out of 5	Completely transformed into a BIG Hero – carried a lot of variations and added value to the movie
5	Sri Venkateswara Art Films	Thammudu	15 July 1999	4.25 out of 5	Dedication & Style have helped him in increasing his own fan-base. Excellent Selection!
6	VijayaLakshmi Art Movies	Badri	20 April 2000	4.25 out of 5	Lot of variations in this character helped him in showcase his talent to the fullest – thanks to Puri!
7	Sri Surya Movies	Kushi	27 April 2001	4.5 out of 5	Excelled all the way – Energetic Performance and Style proved his stamina at the box-office collections!
8	Geetha Arts	Johnny	24 April 2003	3 out of 5	Miscalculated and Wrong Step! Taken huge risk at the peak of his career!
9	Anjana Productions	Gudumba Shankar	10 Sept 2004	4 out of 5	Excellent work, but wrong selection of characterization
10	Vyjayanthi Movies	BALU – abcdefg	6 Jan 2005	4.25 out of 5	Excelled, but audience did not connected to it.
11	Sri Surya Movies	Bangaram	03 May 2006	4.5 out of 5	Excellent subject – but again people did not connected
12	Mega Supergood Films	Annavaram	29 Dec 2006	4.25 out of 5	Chose to perform different angle – Sentiment and emotion! Tamil Flavor
13	Geetha Arts	Jalsa	2 Apr 2008	4.5 out of 5	Slight Variation in the subject put breaks to box-office collections!
14	Kanaka Ratna Movies	Komaram Puli	10 Sept 2010	4.25 out of 5	Few unnecessary stunts & scenes have spoiled the outcome of a great subject!
15	Parameswara Arts	Teenmaar	14 April 2011	4.25 out of 5	Subject is not suitable and failed to get appreciation
16	Sanghamitra Arts + Arka Mediaworks	Panjaa	9 Dec 2011	Should be 4.75 out of 5 now!	Excellent Subject – Stylish Making – Great Teamwork – Superb Form. And it is the time for him to rule the industry! Let’s wait and C.