Tharun Bhascker is stepping into a quirky, genre-bending space with Gaaya Padda Simham. The film blends dark comedy with an unusual character-driven story. It is directed by debutant Kasyap Sreenivas, who comes from a short film background. Backed by Pavan Sadineni as presenter, the film is produced by Kalyan Chakravarthy Manthina, Bhanu Kiran Pratap, Vijay Krishna Lingamaneni, and Umesh Bansal under Sapta Aswa Media Works, POV Stories, and Zee Studios. Ahead of its May 1 release, Kasyap Sreenivas talks about the film, its characters, and his journey.
I come from a short film background. I developed an interest in writing, direction, and editing during that phase. I made short films and web series. I later worked on a few films. Now, I am making my directorial debut with Gaaya Padda Simham. I started this as a small film. The producers wanted to do it on a bigger scale. They supported the story completely. They brought in the right actors for each role. The final output is better than what I wrote.
I chose Tharun Bhascker because this story doesn’t need a typical hero. If the character feels like a conventional hero, it should actually make people laugh. That’s the idea. Tharun fits this perfectly. All the characters are serious in their own lives. But when the audience watches them, it creates humor.
We used the line ‘Navvaku… Idi serious matter.’ It is associated with Balakrishna garu. The word ‘Simham’ in the title also reminds people of him. Titles like that are usually linked to powerful personalities like Balayya Babu. Here, we gave it to a very different character. That contrast creates humor. He is a part of everyone’s lives. His style brings relatability. That’s why we used it.
The story follows Tharun Bhascker’s character. He goes to the US for love. He gets deported and comes back to India. What led to that, and what he does after returning, drives the story. His frustration leads to a lot of fun situations. JD Chakravarthy plays Dharma. He is involved in illegal smuggling. The way these two characters intersect is very interesting. The narrative feels fresh. Even if it looks familiar on the surface, the events are unpredictable.
This is a dark comedy. You might remember Brahmanandam’s role in Money. He thinks he is a hero. In this film, every character believes they are the hero. Everyone is like a Khan Dada. I wrote a character inspired by Trump. Later, he became President again. I adjusted the timeline. It is presented in a very comic way. It’s not something everyone can pull off (laughs).
Having directors like Pavan Sadineni, J.D. Chakravarthy, and Tharun Bhascker was a big advantage. They understand everything. Pavan knows my timing. Tharun is very friendly. He even jokes about himself. I also acted in the film. My role runs throughout. I didn’t want to act at first. But the team insisted, so I did it.
We have Shubhalekha Sudhakar doing a KGF-style narration. It is a lot of fun. The film has strong comedy from the first scene. There is dialogue humor, visual humor, action comedy, and situational comedy. I have always liked imitation. I used spoofs in my earlier work. That experience helped me here. Manasa Chowdary’s character is the reason Tharun faces problems. Faria Abdullah appears in the present timeline. Both characters are important. There is also an interesting link with Dharma’s character. The audience will enjoy that connection. There is definitely scope for a sequel. I would like to explore it.
