Malayalam romantic suspense drama ‘Kappela’ is being remade in Telugu language with the title ‘Buttabomma’ starring Anikha Surendran, Arjun Das and Surya Vasishta in the lead roles. Directed by Sowri Chandrasekhar Ramesh, the film is all set to get released in theatres on February 4.
Sowri Ramesh says he first watched the Malayalam movie ‘Kappela’ during the Covid time. “I feel, only certain films are meant for remakes, not every film. I don’t know if I am right or wrong, but this is my perspective, ‘Kappela’s is a script-based film which I felt has the potential to be remade in other languages. Then again, it should be dealt properly to suit the sensibilities of Telugu audiences. ‘Ayyappanum Koshiyum’ is another film which I liked that has the potential to be remade. Incidentally, I happened to know that Sithara Entertainments bought the rights of Koshiyum and it went into the hands of Sagar Chandra and eventually ‘Bheemla Nayak’ scored a massive success.
Sowri is a filmmaker who doesn’t believe in film trends. A film decides its fate based on its merits. Irrespective of bigger starcast, if you genuinely bring out a product, audiences would watch only if they connect to it.
Coming to starcast, the director says the makers wanted faces from Tamil and other industries. “The choice of picking up Anikha Surendran was because we wanted someone who is fresh to Telugu cinema. Because the main principal character in the film hails from deep village interiors in Andhra Pradesh. I first saw Anikha in the series ‘Queen’ directed by Vasudev Menon. Arjun Das and Surya Vasishta are purely Nagavamsi’s choice. So the story originally depicts the culture of Kerala. And in ‘Buttabomma’, we wanted it to be conventional Telugu family culture. And there’s a major change in the screenplay. Since all three are authored-backed characters, all three actors would get a good name through this film,” he adds.
As a filmmaker, Sowri believes that for any film to strike a chord with audiences it depends on the film’s merit. I don’t believe in trends. Irrespective of bigger starcast, if you genuinely bring out a product, audiences would watch only if they connect to it.
