'Das Ka Dhamki', says Vishwak Sen, grossed Rs 8.80 Cr on Day 1. "This is the best figure in my career," the actor says with a trace of glee. In this interview, Sen talks about the making of the film, his upcoming projects, and more.
"This is a dual-role movie (Sen as Krishna Das and Sanjay Rudra) that hasn't backfired. It's not easy to make a dual-role movie. Since the audience are liking my movie, I am relieved that I could crack it," says Sen, heaving a sigh of relief.
The reception at the box office has been encouraging. I will know the final result only in the long run. As far as openings are concerned, they are 30% more than I had expected. It was a risky project and the collections so far are delightful.
The budget of 'Das Ka Dhamki' is ten times more than that of my first production, 'Falaknuma Das'. More than making the movie, the release procedures were a challenge. The film's release was postponed by three months even if it meant an additional interest burden on finances. I didn't compromise on quality. The openings are the best in my career. From today (the second day), the audience are visiting theatres with an open mind.
My forte as a director is action, dark drama, and intense scenes. Comedy is not my biggest strength. As a director, I am happy I have handled comedy well in 'Dhamki'. And the comedy is not cringe. It is healthy. The second half turns serious. I made the film that way to make the story as unpredictable as possible. The second half is like a bonus, more so the epilogue that you see in the last 3-4 minutes.
I don't believe in forced comedy. Even in the second half, there is a dose of humour when Krishna Das' plight is mocked by characters around him (played by Hyper Aadhi and Mahesh Achanta).
Nivetha Pethuraj was wise enough to pick the role. Earlier, she rejected two films of mine. Some people were skeptical about her choice, since the role has got certain tricky aspects. She didn't mind naysayers and did my movie with conviction. She liked how I was always clear-minded and the way I tackled everything on set.
The hotel manager's role was supposed to be offered to Posani Krishna Murali. As the scale of the movie grew, I approached Akshara Gowda since we were anyways going to shoot the movie in a star hotel. Her presence made the character more believable.
When a director takes up a draft story from a writer, it undergoes a lot of changes as it changes hands. The story of 'Dhamki' that you watched is the second draft. When Prasanna Kumar Bezawada handed over the script to me, it was an out-and-out comedy entertainer. I made it a romantic comedy action thriller. I changed the backdrop from a software company to a pharma backdrop.
I never plan about what kind of roles I must play. I might do a negative role if something works. Next month, as a producer, I am going to announce a new project. It will feature me in an unexpected role.
As a director, I will be doing both 'Falaknuma Das 2' and 'Dhamki 2'. I don't know which of those will go on the floors first. Script-wise, both of them are on the same level currently.
As an actor, I have lined up a handful of movies. I am doing a film with Sithara Entertainments; it is an action comedy thriller. Another film is with SRT Films' Ram Talluri; and this film is a gangster film set in the backdrop of Andhra Pradesh. 'Gaami' is ready already. It will be released in theatres in another two months.
A pan-India range should not ideally be planned in advance. 'Kantara' became pan-India after it was made. 'Dhamki' was never marketed as a pan-India film. I always called it multi-lingual. You can mention any number of languages on the film poster (laughs). You need to be genuinely confident that your film needs to reach all languages' audiences.
