Harish Shankar is one of the few Tollywood directors in the Telugu Film Industry who knows the pulse of the audience.
He is going to team up with Pawan Kalyan for his next film and the project has already become a hot topic.
These are the excerpts from his exclusive interview to greatandhra.com bureau.
Spending Time In Lockdown
I'm reading books keeping aside my phone. I'm presently reading Ikagai which tells about the lifestyle of elderly people living in a Japanese village. All of them are 100 year old persons. Their culture is similar to our old Indian lifestyle in many ways. They don't eat non-vegetarian food. I'm also reading Eleven Minutes by Paulo Coelho.
Pro-BJP Ideology or Hindutva Ideology?
Nothing like that. Hindutva is not a religion in my viewpoint. I take the good in every religion. I say that observing Roza is a healthy practice. We should not look at the religion. We should look at the good things in that religion. My tweets are wide-ranging. Whenever I like the work or tweet of some leader like Chandrababu, Jagan, KCR, Mamata Banerjee, I either like it or comment on it. I don't have any differences based on the party. I liked Jagan in Disha's episode. I express my opinions. That's it.
Thought Process:
If someone gives it as a positive compliment, I will take it happily. If it's negative, I don't care.
Watching Films, Web series:
I watched almost all the films and web series. But I like reading books. If I watch I will get influenced. If I like a film I want to remake it. I take the decision immediately. So, I want to read more and watch less thee days.
Lifestyle:
When I said I want to pursue a career in the film industry, there were people who stopped me and criticized me. Every person is a hero of his life. His story dialogues, screenplay, and the climax should be designed by him. It is his responsibility. If the screenplay is written by him, the responsibility of climax also falls on him. So far I am writing my screenplay in the way I wished.
Film With Megastar:
That is my life ambition. The announcement of my film with Powerstar will be out soon. Making a film with Mega Star is my lifetime ambition. I am working on that as well. I want to make an entertainer like 'Rowdy Alludu'. I also with to work with Ram Charan to get the satisfaction of teaming up with all the mega heroes.
BeTheRealMan Challenge:
Devi Sri Prasad has nominated me. Frankly speaking, if I do such work, then it will be just for the sake of video. Because my family members won't assign any work to me. I just put my plate in the sink. If I work, it will become double work for my wife. If I come up with a video now it is nothing but stealing her credit. In fact, I should come up with a Real Woman video. I can't name it Real Man.
Daily Pujas:
If I have time I perform puja. This is corona time so I have time. I'm doing Sandhyavandanam. If I have shoots, I go out just by chanting Gayatri mantra. I tried eating non-vegetarian food a couple of times. Somehow I didn't like it. I stopped it. My wife takes non-vegetarian food. I feel that there is no relation between food and caste. I take alcohol occasionally. You can write it.
Speaking Foul Language:
I have spoken to you this long. Did I use a single cuss word? Yadbhavam Tadbhavati. I've spoken to you several times. Did you come across a single cuss word? But I would not hesitate to use if I feel that I should teach him a lesson in that language.