F3 director Anil Ravipudi: I like to alternate between mass films and comedy entertainers

Anil Ravipudi, who hasn’t tasted failure in his five-film old career, would be hoping to continue his success streak as F3, the sequel to F2: Fun and Frustration, hits theatres this weekend. Varun Tej, Venkatesh, Mehreen Pirzada, Tamannaah and Sonal Chauhan play key roles in the comic-caper, produced by Shirish under Sri Venkateswara Creations.

Unlike the prequel, F3 will revolve around the characters’ greed for money and how it complicates their lives. “There are significant changes in the way Varun Tej and Venkatesh’s characters are designed. While the former stammers and is an orphan here, Venkatesh has night-blindness and has to deal with parents (it was vice-versa with the original),” he said.

One doesn’t need to remind audiences that Venkatesh is always a natural with humour but Anil insists Varun will be the film’s surprise package. “He has done a wonderful job in the comedy sequences and has stood tall with his performance alongside a veteran like Venkatesh. Many will be surprised to see his comic-timing in F3,” Anil added.

A key inspiration behind Varun’s stammering in the film was Brahmanandam's character in the 80s hit Ahana Pellanta. Anil reportedly felt more comfortable working with Varun and Venkatesh in F3 than the prequel, given the time they spent with one another on sets. “I am closer to them than I was in F2.” He assured that the female leads would have equally funny characterisation in F3, while maintaining that it wasn’t inspired by true incidents.

Among the cast, it’s Y Vijaya and Annapurnamma who came earliest to the set and Anil and team would shoot their sequences the first thing in the day. “That’s the beauty of working with actors from a different generation - they’re extremely professional, disciplined, come to sets on time.” Audiences can expect Sunil at his vintage best in F3 and will be roaring in laughter when Ali enters the scene, he’s confident.

Anil entered the industry to be a commercial filmmaker but realised that there’s no one to fill the void that filmmakers like Jandhyala and EVV Satyanarayana have left behind. “The strategy of alternating between comedy and mass films works best for me. It’s exhausting to pull off a high-voltage commercial fares with action sequences and it was a relief to shoot F3,” the Pataas director stated.

While spilling the beans about his next film with Balakrishna, he says the story is tailor-made to suit the star’s sensibilities and would be made on a huge scale under Shine Screens. “There will be a fun element in the film but that won’t dominate the story as much. We’ll be stepping into a unique, different territory for the project,” the filmmaker signed off.