Aadi Shankara deserves tax exemption
Dasari Narayana Rao, known leaving no stone unturned to do his bit for a film that impresses him, said that director KJ Bharavi's 'Jagadguru Aadi Shankara' is a film for the benefit of the society.
Bestowing praise on the film, a costume drama, which released on I-Day last week, he said, 'If it released during 'Sankarabharanam,' it would have achieved a status similar to it.'
However, the veteran bemoaned that good films like ''Aadi Shankara' are not able to run in theatres for as long as they deserve to. 'Time has changed drastically. If 'Swargam Narakam' and 'Thata Manavadu' were made today, they would have lasted in the screens for a week - that's it.
I wouldn't have been a director in the first place. At a time when films with double-meaning innuendos and vulgarity are ruling the roost, 'Aadi Shankara' is like an oasis in a desert,' he said.
Lauding the efforts of producer Nara Jaya Sridevi who earlier produced the tasteful 'Sri Manjunatha' with Chiranjeevi, the doyen of Telugu cinema revealed that Bharavi offered him to direct the flick.
'He never thought of directing it. After filming a tiny Kerala schedule, he came to me and narrated the whole script. I was bowled over it. I felt like directing it, as I never made such films in the past. To my surprise he offered me to helm it the next day,' Dasari recalled and added, 'I hold the record of not making a film which was started by another filmmaker and I advised Bharavi to go ahead, as it is his vision.'
Heaping praise on Bharavi, Dasari said that although he was working under a tight budget, he managed to transport everyone to the era of Aadi Shankara.
'Had a big director called the shots, he would have spent Rs 80 to 90 crore for the film,' he remarked and added that it was heartening to see US distributors bagging the rights for Rs 1. 25 crore.
'Devotional films hardly get a market in overseas but distributors paying the amount in a single payment indicate that they were waiting for it.' Dasari also hoped that the government gives tax exemption to the film.
News Posted: 20 August, 2013
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