
Pawan Kalyan on ‘Hari Hara Veera Mallu': I have not abandoned my film
Pawan Kalyan began by stating that he has addressed the media on several occasions to discuss societal issues and politics but cannot recall the last time he held a press conference for a film. He made an exception to stand by his producer, AM Rathnam, as the film had faced several challenges during its making for five years. The film's release went through postponements multiple times. Over the weekend, there were reports of complaints being filed with the Film Chamber of Commerce pertaining to the producer's non-clearance of dues for two of his earlier films.
The actor stated that in the early days of his career, he had aspired to work in a film produced by Rathnam, who has delivered blockbuster hits in Telugu and Tamil since the 1990s such as Kartavyam, Indian (Bharateeyudu), among several others.
Pawan Kalyan's first collaboration with Rathnam was the 2001 hit, Kushi. 'He gave me the creative freedom to work on the stunt choreography during the pre-production of Kushi. Rathnam does not retaliate even if others speak to him harshly. I felt the need to support him when he is facing trouble. He began his career as a makeup assistant and grew step by step in cinema,' the actor recalled.
Hari Hara Veera Mallu is a period action entertainer set during the time when Aurangzeb reigned over Golconda Sultanate. 'Director Krish Jagarlamudi approached us with a high-concept story that we all liked. The film faced delays during the pandemic and later I got busy with my political career. Though Krish stepped back due to varied reasons, Rathnam and Jyothi Krishna, who took up the task of direction, were relentless and ensured that the film was completed,' said Pawan Kalyan.
The actor highlighted the high action climax episode that was filmed in scorching summer over 57 days. The team, he added, wondered if the span of the story would fit into one film. Eventually, Hari Hara Veera Mallu became a two-part film with the 20-minute climax sequence of the first part acting as a segue to the second part. 'All the martial arts training I had done years ago came in handy,' he added.
Pawan Kalyan applauded Bobby Deol as the perfect choice to portray Aurangzeb and also lavished praise on Nidhhi Agerwal, the female lead, for singlehandedly taking up the task of promoting the film. He also appreciated the support of composer MM Keeravani, director of photography Manoj Paramahamsa and the other members of cast and crew.
Apart from speaking about the film and the producer, what stood out was Pawan Kalyan asserting that cinema is above caste, religious and regional divides. 'It does not matter who you are and whether you hail from a film family. Creativity and talent matter.'
Reiterating his commitment to the films he had taken up in recent years before he took up his post as Deputy Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh, Pawan Kalyan added, 'I have not been competitive in cinema. But it is cinema that gave me food, made me what I am. So I am here to state that I have not abandoned my film.'
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


Pink Villa
8 minutes ago
- Pink Villa
Hari Hara Veera Mallu Implodes on Day 2: Pawan Kalyan delivers another box office dud
Telugu film Hari Hara Veera Mallu has imploded at the box office, collapsing on its second day after a dismal opening. The Pawan Kalyan starrer period epic grossed a pathetic Rs. 9.50 crore approx on Friday in India, an eye-watering 80 per cent drop from Rs. 49.50 crore it did on its opening day. The two-day running total of the film stands at Rs. 59 crore approx. Things are even worse overseas, where the first day itself was a washout and it barely had any collection on Friday, bringing in just USD 175K (Rs. 1.50 crore) for a USD 1.35 million (Rs. 11.50 crore) cume. The worldwide box office tally stands at Rs. 70 crore approx; it is quite likely to wrap up under Rs. 100 crore. Hari Hara Veera Mallu is yet another box office turkey delivered by Pawan Kalyan, who is arguably the biggest star in the Telugu states but hasn't delivered a box office winner in more than a decade. There was a Bheemla Nayak, which did decently well, but was unlucky to release in the circumstances it did and ended up from being a success. The film is also a setback for the Telugu film industry, which is having a horrific year at the box office, except for a couple of weeks of Sankranti Vashthunam during the holiday period. The last year was also a bad one in general, but there were four major hits spread across the year. This year has offered nothing. It is also turning out to be a nightmare of a year for Mega family heroes, with Ram Charan delivering one of the biggest disasters ever in Indian cinema earlier in January and now Pawan Kalyan has joined it. Next up is Vishwambara, starring Chiranjeevi, whose teaser met with such an underwhelming reception that its release had to be delayed. How that film is going to fare, one can only imagine.


NDTV
8 minutes ago
- NDTV
Amid Dating Rumours With Rashmika Mandanna, Vijay Deverakonda On Not Spending Enough Time With His Girlfriend
New Delhi: Vijay Deverakonda is currently gearing up for the release of his film Kingdom on July 31, 2025. It was during the promotions that he revealed how he did not like his life in the last 2-3 years when he wasn't spending enough time with family, friends, and girlfriend. This comes in light of growing speculations of him dating Rashmika Mandanna. What's Happening During a recent promotional interaction, Vijay Deverakonda spoke about his personal life and making changes in it. He told Cinema Vikatan, "Relationships come above everything. I have been growing up over the last 2 years. I have learned to live life also. Before that, I was not like this. The last 2-3 years, I didn't like how my life went. I didn't spend enough time with my mum, dad, my girlfriend, and friends." Furthermore, he added, "Suddenly, one day, I realised. I didn't want to have such a feeling. Now... I make efforts to make time for my people. I make time for my friends, I make time for my mum and dad, for my relationships." Vijay Deverakonda's Take On Unconditional Love In an earlier interview with Curly Tales last year, Vijay Deverakonda shared his views on unconditional love. He had said, "I know what it is to be loved, and I know what it is to love. I don't know if it's unconditional because my love comes with expectations. I don't know of any love that there is, maybe it's my ignorance of it. At the end of the day, it's a good thing to be loved. Everything else is over-romanticised. I think it's okay to be conditional in love." Speaking of dating a co-star, he had said, "I have (dated a co-star before). I'm 35, you think I would be single? We all have to (get married) at some point unless it's a choice not to." About Kingdom Coming to Kingdom, the film, directed by Gowtam Tinnanuri, is produced by Sai Soujanya and Naga Vamsi S under the banners of Fortune 4 Cinemas and Sithara Entertainment. Anirudh Ravichander has composed the music. Meanwhile, Girish Gangadharan and Jomon T John have handled the cinematography. The film has been postponed multiple times. It was initially scheduled to release on May 30, which got pushed to July 4, and will now release on July 31. Set against the backdrop of the post-Independence Sinhala-Tamil conflict, the plot of the action film revolves around the refugee crisis resulting from historical tensions in the region. In A Nutshell Vijay Deverakonda recently spoke about how he realised not spending enough time with family, friends and girlfriend in the last few years. He also spoke about how he consciously decided to change it.


NDTV
39 minutes ago
- NDTV
Thalaivan Thalaivii: Nithya Menen Reveals Vijay Sethupathi Turned Set Chef, Served Omelettes Between Shots
New Delhi: Nithya Menen recently opened up about her latest Tamil film Thalaivan Thalaivii, which released on July 25 and stars Vijay Sethupathi alongside her. While Sethupathi plays a cook in the film, it turns out he wasn't just acting, he was also whipping up meals on set! In an exclusive conversation with NDTV, Nithya Menen said, "There was a stone that was always hot as it had to be a part of the scene. There was actual cooking happening there. Vijay had to learn how to do the whole parotta thing, so he'd actually keep making food for all of us. He loves experimenting with food and would feed everybody his creations." The camaraderie extended beyond the script. "Sometimes, if I'd say I'm hungry, he'd immediately ask, 'Want an omelette?' and go straight to the stone and start cooking one for me," said the actress. The film's set, built around a temple, became an emotional anchor for the cast and crew. "It was very much a part of the whole shoot. After we wrapped, many of us didn't want to return to the location without the set it felt incomplete. I did go back to visit the temple later, and it felt terrible to see the set gone. We were really attached to it." Thalaivan Thalaivii is more than just a story of a cook and his wife. Behind the scenes, it was also a story of warmth, food, and friendship.