'RGG franchise will continue for a long time'

Ohmkar is nurturing the dream of turning a seasoned director. The television presenter-turned-filmmaker is now looking forward to the release of his upcoming directorial Raju Gari Gadhi 2, a horror-drama starring Nagarjuna, Samantha and Seerat Kapoor in the lead. The director says all he had in mind when he started working on this project was to churn out a successful film.

Ohmkar doesn’t mince words when he says that it is his punctuality and discipline that has made him what he is today. “Direction is no mean task. One should have the ability to deal with the pressure. A positive approach is required, and I consider it my forte.”

The director says he never had any ‘professional’ differences with Nagarjuna and has a completely different picture to paint. “It isn’t easy to satisfy Nagarjuna sir, and as a veteran, he gave me a lot of inputs during the production. It was this attitude of his that encouraged me a lot and made me deliver a fantastic output. There is no truth to the reports that I had some differences with Nagarjuna sir over VFX works and I must say he gave me complete creative freedom as a director.”

Ohmkar doesn’t like to call RGG2 a remake. He says that it should be seen as an adaptation of Pretham because he tweaked the script to suit local sensibilities. “I agreed to direct the film on the condition of changing the script to one that would fit our native audience. I took a few months to pen the script, and hence, I don’t call it an adaptation of the Malayalam version. The screenplay in RGG2 will not be predictable, and one will enjoy the way the story and Samantha’s character unfold.”

Initially, RGG2 was planned with Venkatesh, but since he was busy with prior commitments, it finally came to Nagarjuna and he immediately grabbed it. “Venkatesh sir showed interest in the film, but things didn’t work out and then, producer Niranjan Reddy suggested Nagarjuna sir’s name. But one thing is for sure, RGG has now become a big franchise and will be here for a long time. I’m planning to rope in Venkatesh sir for one of the upcoming installments.”