Megastar Chiranjeevi’s Bholaa Shankar is up for a grand release on August 11th. The movie, directed by Meher Ramesh, has the lovely beauties Tamannaah Bhatia and Keerthy Suresh in important roles. Produced by AK Entertainments, Mahati Swara Sagar composed the tunes. Ahead of the release, we had a brief interaction with producer Anil Sunkara and here is the transcript.

How did the project start?

I didn’t expect this, but it happened. When I came into the industry, Chiranjeevi Garu was in politics. I met him for the first time in 2020 to invite him to Sarileru Neekevvaru’s pre-release event. I told Chiranjeevi Garu that I was planning to meet him for a long time. Chiru Garu said that we should associate. At that time, I had the Kannada rights of Vedhalam. So it was during that time we initiated the discussions.

A.M. Rathnam Garu planned to remake Vedhalam in Telugu, right?

I am very close to A.M. Rathnam Garu. He might not have given the rights if it was someone else. He produced many wonderful movies. I initially thought of producing Vedhalam in Hindi, but now he is doing it. We were thinking to remake Vedhalam in Kannada. As we got Megastar’s dates, we proceeded with Bholaa Shankar.

What made Chiranjeevi Garu do this film?

It is Meher Ramesh Garu. He liked the script very much. He narrated this script to Chiranjeevi Garu a couple of years back. Chiranjeevi Garu immensely liked it.

Meher Ramesh took a long break in his career. Will it have any effect on the film?

Absolutely not. A gap in the career won’t have any effect. What’s important is the output of the film. Every film is quite different. Every film is unique, and there is no need for comparison.

What are your expectations about openings?

I am confident that the openings will be good. Bholaa Shankar is a mass family entertainer. Our entire team, including Chiranjeevi Garu, is pleased with the output. The film will definitely work out. Brother-sister emotion is universal.

Could you tell us about your banner and future projects?

Films produced under 14 Reels will have my name as the producer. Movies bankrolled under AK Entertainments will have my father’s name (Ramabrahmam Sunkara) as the producer. But Meher Ramesh was particular that my name should be mentioned as the producer for Meher Ramesh. Our next project is with Bellamkonda Sreenivas Garu.