Sankalp Reddy: My next films will be in Bollywood

Young filmmaker Sankalp Reddy needs no introduction. His debut film, ‘Ghazi’, won national award. The film also earned the distinction of India’s first movie on Submarines. His second film ‘Antariksham’ starring Varun Tej is gearing up for release on December 21. ‘Antariksham’ is Telugu cinema’s first space thriller. Excerpts from the interview..

How has the national award changed you as a filmmaker?

I was very overwhelmed. The award gave me the courage to dream even bigger in life. That is the reason I made ‘Antariskham’ which will surely win another national award for me again.

Thought process behind making Antariksham?

I believe in instinct and write my stories on what I see. The moment I saw a newspaper article regarding a space item, right away, the thought occurred to me and I penned the story in quick manner.

Challenges faced during making this film?

As my first film was a hit, it was easy to convince the producers for this new genre. But for this, I had to work very hard. I drew my storyboard, made a small shoot and showed it to both Varun and Krish who then came on board. We shot 40 days in zero gravity and for all the forty days, all my actors were hanging on ropes. This was the most difficult part to shoot.

How much of this film is inspired by Hollywood films?

I have read comments saying that my films will be like ‘Gravity’ and ‘Interstellar’. But let me tell you this that the film has nothing to do with those Hollywood movies as it is my own fictional story which is related to a real-life incident.

Scientific films need a lot of logic. How much have you done justice in that department?

If I wanted to make a film full of logic, I need to make a documentary first. But I have taken a lot of cinematic liberties and expect the audience not to look for logic and just go with the flow of the proceedings which will have gripping drama.

What have to heroines to do in a spaceship?

For the first time, I have added a love story in the film. How Aditi Rao comes and creates even more confusion in the space drama is nicely linked in the film. Coming to Varun, the moment I wrote the story only his name came to my mind.

About Bollywood plans?

My next film will be in Bollywood with a production house named RSVP. I have also signed Vipul Shah’s banner and will make two films in Hindi next.