‘The Birthday Boy’, starring Ravi Krishna, Sameer Malla, and Rajeev Kankala, is being produced by I. Bharat under the banner of Bomma Borusa. The film will hit the screens on July 19. Ahead of the theatrical release, director Whisky and producer I Bharat interacted with journalists.
Speaking on the occasion, Whisky said, “I thought we would make a film with this story in 2020. The true incident that is the basis of this story happened in 2016. During this gap of four years, I saved money by working in the US. I came to India with that money and made this film with my friend Bharat. Eighty percent of the story of the movie is based on true incidents. But to be cinematic, I added twenty percent fiction for commercial value. The fiction also includes scenes that happened in other contexts in my life. After seeing the trailer of the movie, everyone asked if we were dealing with a serious issue as a comedy. But in real life, even though we are jolly and happy, we don’t know what will happen. This story is about what happened after an unfortunate incident. How a friend died due to birthday bumps and what happened next is very exciting. Only the first 15 minutes of the movie are youthful. After that, the whole movie is serious. The audience will feel all kinds of emotions while watching the movie.”
He further said, “Usually, if you get stuck in a problem, the rules in America are very strict. What the friends’ characters did during a tricky time is interesting in this film. No one in my family wanted me to enter the film industry. I changed my name to Whisky because I didn’t want to hurt them. I walk around wearing a mask so that my face is not visible. And my beloved puppy died of COVID-19. Its name was Whisky. I changed my name to Whisky in memory of it. Many films are released without the knowledge of the audience. We did innovative publicity so our film would not be like that. We have planned some promotions within our budget. Whether this movie is a hit or a flop, I am totally responsible for the result. I like to say this: if my two films are not successful in a row, then I will stop making films. If the audience rejects me twice, I will stop directing. If I do anything, helping my film is enough. I personally don’t need that.”
Producer Bharat said, “The story is the reason for making this film. The director and I used to be in the US. Once he told me about this incident in his life and said let’s make a film. When he told this real story, I felt like producing it. I feel this story as an emotion. The emotion should also be realistic.”
“In terms of the use of sync sound, I had some differences of opinion with the director, but it helped to make the film better. Content is the first priority for both of us. Now we are releasing this movie in America as well. There is no message in this film. By showing a tragic incident, we are showing how lives were lost due to a freak accident. Here we show some strange trends happening in the name of birthdays. There is no good or bad in this movie. We just showed the incident. It is interesting and exciting. It is a complete thriller in a sense. The first 15 minutes of the movie are really youthful. After that, it will be a pure family drama. The director has made the whole movie based on a real incident. But for more interest in the movie, the director mixes some fictional drama for a gripping story. This is a story that takes place in 48 hours. Every scene is sure to be laugh-out-loud thrilling,” the makers added.