When he began his career as a distributor in Rani Gunj in Hyderabad in 1999, even in his wildest dreams, Dil Raju didn’t expect that he would become the most influential film personality in Tollywood.
Today, he is one of the leading producers in South India. He turned producer with “Dil” and this year he had scored two big hits – “F2” and “Maharshi”.
His production banner Sri Venkateshwara Creations has become synonymous with quality movies, story-based productions.
At this moment of completing 20 years in Tollywood, he is now venturing into Bollywood with multiple productions. Is it for more money, a bigger market?
“I never ran after money but I wanted success, fame, and chased excellence. The reason I am stepping into Bollywood is that we have many good stories that need to reach a wider audience. We need to expand our markets,” he clarified.
Is he controlling Tollywood under his grip?
“That is false. People assume that I have hundreds of theaters but the fact is that I own only 30 theaters. Also, out of 100 movies get released every year, we will distribute 25 movies. Where is the question of commanding it?” he quips.
What is the key to openings today?
“Trailer is key. Take for example the successes of ‘Brochevarevura’, ‘Agent Sai Srinivasa Athreya’ and ‘iSmart Shankar’… all these movies had a terrific trailer cut. People were fell in love with ‘iSmart’s trailer and they booked the movie 3 days before the release,” Dil Raju explained.
He also admitted that reviews are important but not for all movies.
“Reviews are helpful for small movies. If a film gets a 3 rating, the collections during the weekends show a good trend. But they don’t affect big movies,” he reasoned.
Is it true that he made a statement that producers also need to get a remuneration? Dil Raju says he didn’t make such a statement but a couple of producers told him.
Despite becoming a good hit, why is that “Maharshi” didn’t bring profits to the producers?
“First and foremost, I was not the original producer. I joined the production at the last stage to sort out some issues and I made sure that it would hit the screens without any problems. And we are proud that the film has become the highest grosser in Mahesh Babu’s career, a film that befitted the 25th milestone of his career.”
He also admitted that all stars like him despite sometimes media make an issue out of his statements (like his comments on Nithin and Raj Tarun).
“I don’t belong to any compound. I have worked with 90 percent of all the existing heroes in Tollywood,” Dil Raju says proudly.
Watch full Interview below.