Kamal
Hassan's
Words
Motivated
Venkatesh
It
was
actor-turned-filmmaker
Kamal
Hassan's
inspiring
words
that
motivated
Venkatesh
to
do
the
unthinkable.
The
Telugu
actor
recalled,
"I
had
met
Kamal
at
Goa
film
fest
a
few
months
back.
I
discussed
with
him
the
kind
of
films
I
must
be
doing
at
this
stage
in
my
career.
His
advice
was
a
real
eye-opener
and
it
came
right
before
my
brother
and
I
watched
Drushyam.
He
asked
me
to
challenge
myself
and
that's
exactly
what
I've
done
with
this
film."
Venkatesh
Wasn't
Lured
By
Commercial
Success
Of
Drishyam
Venkatesh,
who
comes
from
the
family
of
a
popular
production
house
in
Telugu
filmdom,
says
he
wasn't
lured
by
the
commercial
success
of
the
original.
He
said,
"My
brother
and
I
watched
Drishyam
long
before
it
turned
out
to
be
a
commercial
success.
We
were
literally
shaken
and
deeply
impacted
by
the
film.
That's
when
we
decided
to
remake
it
in
Telugu.
We
didn't
choose
it
because
it
raked
in
the
moolah."
Venkatesh
Working
With
Female
Director
For
First
Time
Venkatesh's
brother
Suresh
Babu
of
Suresh
Productions
has
jointly
produced
the
film
with
Rajkumar.
After
having
worked
with
several
top
directors
in
his
over
two-decade
long
career,
Venkatesh
has
for
the
first
time
teamed
up
with
a
woman
director
Sripriya
Rajkumar.
Venkatesh
On
Working
With
Sripriya
When
quizzed
about
what
prompted
him
to
work
with
Sripriya,
Venkatesh
said,
"It
was
a
mutual
decision.
Both
of
us
were
on
the
lookout
for
people
who'd
be
interested
in
the
project.
Since
I've
never
worked
with
a
woman
director,
I
wanted
to
enjoy
the
experience
of
being
directed
by
a
woman
as
well."
Gender
Doesn't
Matter
For
A
Director:
Venky
Venkatesh
said,
"I
thoroughly
enjoyed
working
with
her.
The
experience
was
far
different
from
working
with
a
male
director.
But,
you
see,
nothing
else
changes
other
than
how
a
person
approaches
the
craft
because
irrespective
of
the
gender,
one
has
to
deliver
at
the
end
of
the
day.
That's
what
matters
the
most,"
he
said.
Venky
On
Multi-Starrers
Movies
In
the
last
two
years,
Venky
starred
in
multi-starrers
such
as
Seethamma
Vakitlo
Sirimalle
Chettu
and
Masala.
"I
really
encourage
multi-starrers
because
it
gives
me
the
chance
to
work
with
younger
heroes.
But,
even
for
these
films,
I
give
prime
importance
to
the
characters
and
don't
just
blindly
sign
them,"
said
Venkatesh.
OMG:
Oh
My
God
Remake
Venkatesh
is
currently
shooting
for
the
Telugu
remake
of
OMG:
Oh
My
God,
titled
Gopala
Gopala,
which
features
Power
Star
Pawan
Kalyan
alongside
him.