Filmmaker R.K. Malineni says forthcoming Telugu movie "Dagudumoota Dandakor" is an out-and-out family drama that will unfold through the eyes of a rooster that plays an important character in the movie.
The film, which releases in cinemas on Saturday, is the Telugu remake of Tamil film "Saivam".
"The story explores the bond between the members of a family through the eyes of a rooster. We retained the core characters from the original. The film will also predominantly revolve around the bond between a rooster and a young girl and her grandfather," Malineni told IANS.
In "Saivam", which was directed by A.L. Vijay, the plot touched on the vegetarianism angle, which Malineni says they've avoided in the Telugu version.
"We've tried to focus on the attachment within the members of a family. If people from a family are coming together for a reunion after a few years, the attachment they share is not quite strong," he said.
"Dagudumoota..." features Rajendra Prasad as the grandfather and child actor Sara Arjun as the granddaughter.
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Sara was also part of the original version, in which veteran actor Nasser played the grandfather's role.
"Nasser was extremely good in the titular character in 'Saivam', but for the remake, we wanted someone with an image. Had it been a formulaic film with a hero and heroine, we could've retained Nasser. But here's a film that needed to ride on the shoulder of an actor with some image, hence we chose Rajendra Prasad," he said.
"What really worked in the favour of our film is the fact that the bond between the grandfather and his granddaughter worked much better in the Telugu version," said Malineni, and added that the biggest challenge was to maintain the emotional pulse of the original in the remake.
"I was initially worried if I'd be able to do justice to the film but with that fear, we worked hard to retain the soul of the original and yet managed to bring some nativity in our film," he added.
According to Malineni, the bond between the little girl and the rooster will serve as one of the pillars of the movie, which he assures will entertain and also tug at heartstrings at regular intervals.
"The mood of our film will be like the celebration of a festival. It has all the emotions that you can relate with six tastes or flavours in Ugadi chutney," he said.
The film is jointly produced by "Gabbar Is Back" director Krish and Ramoji Rao.
"It was through filmmaker Krish; I got an opportunity to direct this project. I come from television background and had worked with him on a popular daily soap. He liked my work and wished to work with me. It was then we watched 'Saivam', and he immediately decided to remake it," he added.