Interview: Krish Jagarlamudi on making `Konda Polam' amid COVID
`Kanche' director's movie `Konda Polam' is all set to hit the theatres on October 8. Panja Vaisshnav Tej and Rakul Preet Singh are playing the lead. The film is an adaptation of a book with the same title written by Sannapureddy Venkata Rami Reddy.
By Bhavana Published on 5 Oct 2021 8:05 AM IST
After a long time, director Krish Jagarlamudi is back in business. `Kanche' director's movie `Konda Polam' is all set to hit the theatres on October 8. Panja Vaisshnav Tej and Rakul Preet Singh are playing the lead. The film is an adaptation of a book with the same title written by Sannapureddy Venkata Rami Reddy.
"I always wanted to adapt a book into a film. I read so many books. But Konda Polam was referred to me by directors Indraganti Mohanakrishna and Sukumar during one of the meetings after the first COVID wave. I went home and with the help of my sister, found the book in our library. I fell in love with the story and decided to make a film," said Krish.
`Gamyam' director said he is super excited about the release of this film and shooting experiences. The film was shot in Vikarabad forests with around 1000 goats and their shepherds. The film crew put on a brave face shooting despite the COVID wave.
"Shooting was an amazing experience. We all came back to the city hale and hearty. We had limited staff and everybody had to step into the shoes of boys and carry water bottles, bags, lights, etc. We had to trek a long distance to reach the location. It was challenging, but exciting," he said.
Krish is known for making films on different themes and concepts. Unlike many other directors in the industry, Krish is not someone who wants a bunch of baddies, ten Tata Sumos flying in the air, and skin show by the leading lady in his movies.
He loves making films that show the history of India, war, forests, animals, etc. In short, he likes to make films based on incidents that are closer to life.
When Krish decided to make `Konda Polam', he was busy shooting for `Hari Hara Veera Mallu' with Pawan Kalyan. When the second schedule was on, the industry had to shut down due to the second wave.
"In between, I realized there were financial constraints and people who were working for the film had mouths to feed. So I decided to make Konda Polam. I went to Kalyan Garu and explained the situation to him. He asked me to go ahead and he was curious to know how I would shoot a film with all the challenges we had. That's when I started to think about the lead actor," he said
On choosing `Panja Vaisshnav' Tej as lead actor, Krish said he saw him when he was a college-going kid. "A few months before Konda Polam went on floors, I met Sai Dharam Tej at a party and I got a chance to see Vaisshnav's pictures. Those were the times when even the first single from Uppena hasn't released. He looked so handsome and the perfect fit to play the lead role in Konda Polam. And today, I am happy that my choice was right," he said.
Krish's upcoming film `Hari Hara Veera Mallu' is all set to go on floors once again. The film was stalled in March this year. He will resume shooting from the second week of November. Starring Pawan Kalyan in the lead role, the film has Nidhhi Aggerwal, Jacqueline Fernandez, and Arjun Rampal in other key roles.
