Ram Pothineni: The Warriorr is an ideal bilingual film and has the potential to work in Telugu and Tamil markets

Ram Pothineni, whose The Warriorr is releasing on July 14, at a point of time was vexed about listening to cop stories with predictable conflicts, until director N Lingusamy made him feel otherwise. He was so motivated about the role that he ordered a khaki costume the same day Lingusamy narrated him the script. The film is the first Telugu-Tamil bilingual in his career.

“Every cop film is about a hero and a villain but I connected with the soul and emotion of the script. Why does he become a cop? How does he go about his job? This makes the film unique,” the actor, who suffered a serious spinal cord injury during the shoot, shares. Ram’s injury came to a point where the medico had asked him, “What would you choose between life and cinema?”

“It was an out-of-the-syllabus question for me. My only intention here was to not make people wait because of me. I am responsible for their time,” the actor adds. Wasn’t it a risk to choose a film with a director who hasn’t tasted success lately? “Wasn’t it the same case for iSmart Shankar too? Puri Jagannadh and Lingusamy sir are like diamonds. With the right script, they can sparkle in no time.”

Ram has been receiving a lot of Tamil offers from a long time but was keen to pick up a project that would work equally well in both the Telugu and Tamil markets. “The scripts were very good but I wasn’t sure of their potential in the Telugu market. When Lingusamy sir’s script came my way, I knew it was an apt choice for a bilingual.”

Reportedly, Aadhi Pinisetty was the first and the only choice as the antagonist for the film. “I really liked his character Guru and it’s a very meaty part. When the director told me he was considering Aadhi for it, I was relieved and excited at once. He is selective about his projects and said yes to our film immediately. He commenced work on the character the day he agreed to do it.”

The iSmart Shankar star feels that Devi Sri Prasad has done everything to ensure that The Warriorr will go down as a one-of-a-kind big screen experience. He credits Simbu for the popularity behind the Bullet song in the film. “I was reminded of his Loosu Penne song when they finalised his name for Bullet. He deserves full credit behind the song’s reach in Telugu and Tamil.”

The Warriorr is a title that the team finalised to pay a humble tribute to cops and address them as frontline warriors. “Cops and doctors were probably the only people who had to go out for work despite a raging pandemic. The film is inspired by stories of many real life cops. I liked how ‘Warriorr’ sounded as a title and there was no going back.”

Next up his sleeve is a Boyapati Sreenu directorial, a pan-Indian release, also bankrolled by the producers of The Warriorr, Srinivasaa Silver Screen. “Boyapati (garu) understands his lead actors and their body language very well and plans his films accordingly. I am leaving the responsibility on his shoulders. The dubbed versions of his films and mine have always worked well across the country. I’m confident about it,” he signs off.