Upcoming Telugu romantic-drama 'Premam' recovered its investment the day it was launched, said director Chandoo Mondeti. "On the day the film was launched, few distributors had come forward to buy the film. We recovered our investment on that day. These things helped me understand the commerce of cinema."
A remake of a Malayalam blockbuster of the same name, the Telugu version features Naga Chaitanya, Shruti Haasan, Anupama Parameswaran and Madonna Sebastian. Sharing how the project came under the works, Chandoo said, "Chaitu and I were supposed to team up for a thriller. It was around the same time, I watched Premam and I fell in love with the film. I shared my excitement with Chaitu and within a week's time, he was flooded with offers to star in the film's remake."
It wasn't soon before Shruti was signed up to play the role of a teacher. "When you watch the film, you will understand why we cast her. She has amazing screen presence. Out of the three heroines we were certain we needed a star heroine to draw the crowds, she said, admitting Shruti, who is very popular among Telugu audiences, was roped in for commercial reasons," Chandoo said. Talking about being under tremendous pressure working on the remake, he said, "Honestly, there was absolutely no pressure, thanks to the faith my producer and Chaitu had in me. I feel this project made me a responsible filmmaker."