'Ashwathama discusses issues concerning woman’s safety'

Naga Shaurya will be serving up a revenge thriller titled Ashwathama to the audience this Friday (January 31). Besides playing the lead, he has also written the story for the film, which marks the debut of Ramana Teja as the director and stars Mehreen Pirzada as the female lead.

The film is based on true events and follows a youngster who is on the hunt for a serial killer on the loose. "It's a film based on a shocking incident that happened in the life of one of my close friends in Mumbai. I have sought his permission and written the script on my own. The film discusses the atrocities and issues concerning woman’s safety. Although I don't have a sister in real life, I have penned this story keeping my rakhi sister, Priya in mind," begins Shaurya.

The Chalo actor admits that the writing process has taken a toll on him. "Given the emotional intensity of the story, I was deeply disturbed and was filled with despair. The story is close to my heart and I even got the film's logo tattooed there," he says, adding, "I learnt a lot in life while writing the script and I travelled to several places to learn about the victims. When the Disha incident happened, I was completely shocked to know about some of the distressing aspects of the crime. I have tweaked my script and incorporated some of those aspects in the film."

Dispelling rumours that he ghost directed the film, Shaurya says that the director and he worked on this film with good coordination. "We worked collectively as a team, thus leaving no room for misunderstanding. Ramana Teja's inputs were taken into consideration during the scripting stage and I am happy to have collaborated with a passionate technician like him," says the actor.

Opening up about his last release @Narthanasala, Shaurya calls it a devastating failure in his career. "More than me, my parents were upset over the film's result. It was painful for us. I knew that @Narthanasala would end up as a flop even before its release. But I went ahead and made this film as I gave a commitment to its director (Srinivas Chakravarthi) in 2010. After we launched our production house, Srinivas came to me in 2017 and requested me to honour my commitment. So I did it. I would rather die than break my oath," says an emotional Shaurya.