Producer KK Radha Mohan: Crazy Fellow is an ideal stress buster for audiences across all age groups

Producer KK Radha Mohan, who's made a name for himself by producing quality medium/small-budget films over the years under his banner Sri Sathya Sai Arts, is now eager to know the fate of his next release - Crazy Fellow. The film, written and directed by Phani Krishna Siriki, stars Aadi Saikumar, Mirnaa Menon and Digangana Suryavanshi in the lead roles. With Crazy Fellow set to hit screens on October 14, Radha Mohan shares what made him say yes to the project and the audience-base it aims to reach out to.

"We were planning to release Crazy Fellow much earlier but owing to COVID-19 delays, a flurry of films are hitting theatres every weekend. September was our initial plan but we didn't want to lose our way amidst multiple releases. We didn't have many options for November or December either. October second week was our best bet. However, the key challenge is to bring audiences to theatres. Crazy Fellow is a family entertainer and the promos have been received well," he shares.

The banner adopted interesting strategies to promote Crazy Fellow. "There are vehicles that are touring across the Telugu states and we've made arrangements to play the songs and the trailer at several locations. We're aggressively pushing the film across several mediums. Crazy Fellow is an out-and-out entertainer and I'm sure it'll win over crowds. I always believe in a good story and that's the film's main strength. The director has made the film exactly the way he narrated us."

Crazy Fellow, Radha Mohan says, is a story tailor-made for Aadi Saikumar. "His look for the film is refreshing and his wacky characterisation will grab eyeballs. It's a clean entertainer that'll appeal to the younger lot and family audiences. You can forget the world and your stress for a couple of years and enjoy Crazy Fellow. The female leads Mirnaa (it's her Telugu debut) and Digangana are promising performers. There's a surprise element in Mirnaa's characterisation."

Radha Mohan is all praise for the composer RR Dhruvan and his five-song album. "He's an up-and-coming talent and has done an impressive job. All the five songs have different textures. In particular, he has excelled with the background score. As a producer, I'm very satisfied with his work." Post COVID-19, the veteran says that audiences have become more discerning and recognise the worth of a film purely by its trailer and take a call if they need to watch it in theatre on OTT.

He admits that avenues for revenue in film production have multipled over the years. "Satellite was the big deal before, now the conversation has shifted to OTT. However, the producer isn't honestly benefiting much out of this. The production costs have also increased and it's now the responsibility of the producer to control the budget. It's important to produce films quickly and take risks when necessary. The industry has become more organised now and there's a corporate-like approach to the process."

As a producer, there are two films that Radha Mohan is extremely proud about - Emaindi Ee Vela and Bengal Tiger. "It feels great when directors like Maruthi claim that Emaindi Ee Vela inspired them to make content-driven films. In terms of commerce and business, Bengal Tiger brought me a lot of fame. I am still known as the producer who made Bengal Tiger." He's also producing a Hindi film with Ayush Sharma next and will announce two other projects shortly.