Director Phani Krishna Siriki: Crazy Fellow is about a guy who never listens to anything fully and lands in a mess

Crazy Fellow is certainly the frontrunner among all the small-budget films that'll battle it out at the box office this weekend. Aadi Saikumar, Mirnaa Menon and Digangana Suryavanshi essay the female leads in this comedy entertainer helmed by debutant Phani Krishna Siriki and produced by KK Radhamohan of Sri Sathya Sai Arts. Ahead of its release on October 14, the director interacted with the media and spilled the beans about the film.

"I've been in the industry for over 10 years now. I've made short films, directed ads and also worked on a few small-budget projects. I had a brief stint in the writing team of director Kalyan Krishna too. I narrated the story of Crazy Fellow to Radhamohan garu initially and he liked it a lot. It feels wonderful to be making my feature debut with this entertainer," Phani Krishna shared.

He labelled his debut a character-driven film and added that he's come up with a wacky characterisation for the male lead. "The story is about a youngster who doesn't listen to anything completely and we deal with the complications that may arise out of this. The film has abundant scope for entertainment and I believe it'll click with audiences. It has been a while since Aadi starred in a love-themed entertainer. You'll all come out of the theatres with a smile."

Phani Krishna assured the film will present Aadi in a different light and lavished praise on his performance. "The lead protagonist is also the villain here. He digs his own trap unknowingly and it'll make for a hilarious ride. Both the heroines, Mirnaa and Digangana, have meaty roles. Vinodhini Vaidyanathan, Anish Kuruvilla, Narra Srinivas and Saptagiri will make an impact. Anish joked with me that I was the only filmmaker who'd cast him as the protagonist's brother," he added.

There's enough action in the film too, the filmmaker averred. "The banner did everything in its capacity to translate my script onto the big screen. We managed the pre-production well and with the help of Aadi, we were able to wrap up the shoot on time." He believes that audiences will come to the theatres when the word of mouth is strong. "Crazy Fellow will appeal to family audiences and every viewer will call it a good film as he leaves the theatre," he's hopeful.