Filmmaker Vamsi couldn’t ask for anything more, since he has managed to bring Akkineni Nagarjuna, Karthi and Tamannaah together for his Telugu-Tamil bilingual Oopiri-Thozha.
The director tells DC, “I feel super blessed because I never thought I would direct a film in Tamil. More than anything else, everybody bonded quite well on sets. We complemented each other and everything fell in place effortlessly. I am sure that the teamwork will reflect on-screen. Thozha has the feel-good factor that anybody can appreciate. Above all, I found true friendship in Karthi and Nagarjuna.”
The director was all praise for Karthi. Ask him why, and Vamsi says, “Karthi helped me with Tamil, which I’m not good with. Now, I have learnt the language only because of him. He doubled as an assistant director! Though, initially he had apprehensions when I told him that Thozha is an adaptation of The Intouchables, a French film, he was convinced by the way I made suitable changes to the script according to the sensibilities of the south Indian audience.”
Vamsi says that working alongside superstar Nagarjuna was the icing on the cake. He adds, “He’s simple, happy, and truly down-to-earth and doesn’t have any starry airs around him. There’s so much to learn from him. In fact, he had no qualms about playing a physically-challenged millionaire. Though restricted to a wheel chair throughout the film, he performed so well. I think the crew made a perfect choice by casting him.”
Vamsi concludes, “We had a great time filming Thozha. We travelled a lot abroad and worked with a multi-cultural team. Yes, it was tedious, but at the end of the day, it was worth the effort.”
