Rangamarthanda Director Krishna Vamsi: Prakash Raj had asked me to remake Natsamrat, I cried many times watching it

Regardless of success or failure, director Krishna Vamsi is a storyteller who's always made films with complete conviction and never considered himself a part of the rat-race. The filmmaker, who last helmed Sundeep Kishan's Nakshatram, will have a theatrical release after five years with Rangamarthanda, the remake of Marathi film Natsamrat starring Nana Patekar. Rangamarthanda's cast comprises Prakash Raj, Ramya Krishna, Brahmanandam, Shivathmika Rajashekar, Rahul Sipligunj and others, to name a few.

In an interview with a vernacular daily, Krishna Vamsi said, "I didn't remake Natasamrat because I didn't have stories. Prakash Raj was keen to act in it and also direct the film. I cried a lot while watching the Marathi film and said that it had all ingredients to be a memorable film. Then, he asked me why not I direct it and get the best of out of him as an actor? I couldn't say no to it."

"As a story, the film questions if we truly respect our parents or are we trying to convince ourselves that we're doing a good job of it? The film revolves around a theatre actor who has tasted many highs in life and retires from the stage the day he's given the title 'Rangamarthanda'. Only when he moves beyond his stage life, does he realise that his loved ones are better actors than him in real life. He realises the true colours of his family late in his life. The film is about inter-generational clashes."

When asked if he's confident of Rangamarthanda's commercial success, he shared, "Let me put it this way. I never do films only to make them a commercial success. I do the films that I believe in and hope it is accepted well by people. If I really want to score a hit, why wouldn't I make a thriller or a hero-driven story? And what is the guarantee that they'll do well? One can't manufacture hits."

Rangamarthanda has music by Ilaiyaraja and the film is expected to release soon. Krishna Vamsi further hinted about making his OTT debut shortly with a Rs 200-300 crore budget project. "There's immense creative freedom in the digital space and you don't need stars alone to sell your story. You can make cinema the way you intend to," he stated.