Kabzaa director R. Chandru: 'When I wanted to make a film with Allu Arjun, I was humiliated'

For director R. Chandru, by his own admission, Kabzaa has been a cathartic experience. Having desired to prove himself as a capable filmmaker and also be part of this crucial phase of the resurgence of Kannada cinema, Chandru dreamed big and spent close to four years bringing it to life. The journey to this point today hasn't been easy, he says, adding that he was made to face rejection and even humiliation when he dared to do something big & substantial.

"I was making a Telugu film called Krishnamma Kalipindi Iddarini a few years ago. I wanted to mount this film on a large scale but in turn, I was offered a budget of only Rs. 3 crores because I was a Kannada director. I expected that the Telugu Film Industry would give me a lot more but it didn't happen. Regardless, we managed to make a good film with that small budget and it even won the Best Romantic Film award at the Jaipur International Film Festival. After that, I told someone that I wanted to make a film with Allu Arjun and wished to tell them the story - "Is it a Kannada director? Then it's a NO," came the response. That is when I decided that filmmaking has to grow stronger in Kannada cinema - someone has turned me down only because I was a Kannada director. It was painful to experience that. And the people who helped me get rid of that pain were those from the KGF team. That's when I decided that no matter what people say, I will appreciate the KGF team because they have done something extraordinary," said R. Chandru at the recent Kabzaa success meet.

In the same breath, he added that Kabzaa wouldn't have been possible without the long-enduring support of Upendra, Kiccha Sudeep, fellow producer K.P. Sreekanth, Shiva Rajkumar and his entire team. A teary-eyed R. Chandru would then invite a few people from his core technical and direction teams.

Kabzaa released in cinema halls across the world on March 17th to mixed reviews.