Telugu director Sekhar Kammula knows what he wants from his actors and often cans scenes in two takes, says southern actor Vaibhav Reddy, who has teamed up with the National award-winning filmmaker for upcoming Tamil-Telugu thriller "Anaamika", a remake of Bollywood film "Kahaani".
"He will not shoot scenes in more than two takes. He tells actors what he exactly wants before and after every scene. This allows the actors not to waste time from going through same scenes over and over again," Vaibhav said.
Time flies when one is working with Sekhar, he added.
"I can't believe it's nearly 45 days since we started shooting and we have almost completed 80 percent of the film. Everybody is so busily engrossed in the film that nobody realised time has gone by so quickly," he added.
Vaibhav, who reprises the role of police officer Rana, originally played by Parambrata Chatterjee, says his screen presence has been extended.
"He (Sekhar) has given me extended screen presence and has written the role in a way to suit the nativity of Telugu audiences," said Vaibhav, who adds that the genre of the film doesn't matter as long as it's different.
"Audiences here are always open to different films. Even small films like 'Prema Katha Chitram' have turned out to be successful because of the same factor. I don't think genre of a film really matters anymore as long as audiences are entertained," he said.
Known for his performances in films such as "Saroja", "Goa" and "Mankatha", Vaibhav says "Anaamika" is not a frame-to-frame copy of "Kahaani".
"Sekhar has tweaked it a little keeping in mind the core audiences. The subtle use of situational comedy will definitely be one of the highlights of the film," he said.
The film features Nayanthara in the role of Vidya Bagchi, which was played by Vidya Balan in "Kahaani".
"Anaamika" also features Harshvardhan Rane and Tamil actor Pasupathy in important roles. It is jointly produced by Endemol India, Logline Productions and Select Media Holdings.
M.M. Keeravani is composing the music for the film, which is set for a Dussehra release.
