How is the response for Balu's audio?
Balu's audio reached the expectations the music lovers expect from audio albums of Vyjayanthi's banner. As per the feedback I have got from friends, distributors and fans, the audio of Balu is as good as my previous film 'Indra' and Pawan Kalyan's best musical 'Kushi'.

Which one is your personal favorite song from this album?
All the songs in this album are my favorites. Here is the order. My most favorite song is 'Neelo Jarige' by Sirivennela. Vyjayanthi style of song is 'Kannu kottina' by Sirivennela. Another favorite song is 'Lokale Gelavaga', which is in the pattern of Maestro Ilayaraja's melodies. Thanks to Mani Sharma and our lyricists. Sirivennela came up with two gems of lyrics. Chandrabose penned two songs. 'Lokale Gelavaga' would be the comeback song of senior writer Jonnavithula. Nitin Raikwar came to Hyderabad and stayed here for 4 days to pen lyrics for the Hindi song.

There are certain songs that do not appeal while listening, but they become great hits on the screen with beautiful choreography. 'Dayi Dayi Damma' song from Indra is one such kind of a song. Among the songs that are canned so far, which song would look great on the screen?
As of today, we have 3 more songs to be canned. Among the songs that are picturized, Inthe inthinthe and Kannu Kottina are the best. I am sure that Pawan Kalyan's fans won't blink their eyelids even for a moment while watching these songs. Picturization of all other songs would also exceed the expectations of audiences.

Tell us about the songs that are yet to be canned?

1. 'Lokale Gelavaga' song would be picturized on Pawan Kalyan and Neha Oberai in the dance direction of Saroj Khan in Pune and Mahabaleswar from 6th of this month.

2. 'Athi Methani' song would be picturized from 11th of this month on Pawan Kalyan and Shriya in Ramoji Film City. We erected 4 sets for this song. Vaibhavi Merchant - a popular choreographer from Mumbai - would compose steps for this song. We are bringing down fifty dancers from Mumbai for this song.

3. My favorite song 'Neelo Jarige' would be canned in Austria from 21st of this month onwards in the dance direction of Kalyan.

Pawan Kalyan commands the best openings in Tollywood today. What do you think is the reason behind this craze?
Pawan Kalyan has created his own style. If you look at all the nine characters done by him, so far in his 9 films, each and every character offer something different from the other. If the character offers 20% of the strength, Pawan Kalyan adds remaining 80% by his unique performance. He has become a great artist in Telugu film industry with in a short period of time.

At one point of time, the youth and class film lovers used to encourage films from non-Telugu directors like Mani Ratnam, Shankar, Yash Chopra etc. It is Pawan Kalyan who made a difference to Telugu film industry by coming up with his kind of films. He inspired the upcoming directors as well. If you look at the scenario today, Telugu films are being remade in other languages now. There is always something special in Pawan Kalyan's films.

Tell us about hero character in Balu?
If I reveal it to you now, there is no thrill.

What can we expect from Balu film?
It would have Pawan Kalyan's style of lighter vein entertainment, message to youth and Vyjayanthi banner's richness. Balu is going to be the 'vindu bhojanam' for Telugu film lovers this Sankranthi.

Vyjayanthi's previous release Indra would raise the expectations on Balu. How do you take this pressure?
I remember giving an interview to idlebrain.com during the post production of Indra. Whatever confidence I had when I was making Indra film, I am having the same confidence now for Balu. The film lovers can come with the expectations they had while watching Indra, I am certain that Balu would also exceed all their expectations. This is the assurance from Aswini Dutt on behalf of Pawan Kalyan and Vyjayanthi banner.

Tell us about the sets?
We had different backdrops and different sets for films like Choodalani Vundi, Govinda Govinda and Indra in the past. This film also has the backdrop of Delhi, Agra and Old City. We erected a set with Taj Mahal backdrop. We did a set worth 90 lakhs for Old City in RFC. This set would have a bit of Roman architecture. For the first time in Pawan Kalyan's career, the backdrops for songs in this film are very vivid and most colorful.

Tell us about the fights?
Thanks to fight master Vijayan. The climax fight of this film would be a major highlight.

Coming to fights, I have been observing lot of threadwork in recent films. This kind of threadwork and wires generate artificialness. Pawan Kalyan is always known for realistic fights. What kind of fights 'Balu' boasts off?
All I can say is that you can expect Pawan Kalyan kind of fights in this film. These fights are manly and it could be called as one-man-show as well.

What is the reason behind taking Karunakaran?
Karunakaran is a very good director, who proved himself with 'Toliprema', a trend setting film in Telugu. Pawan Kalyan suggested Karunakaran's name. I am too glad to rope him in as director. I liked all his films though a couple of them did not click.

How did the story of Balu happen?
Pawan Kalyan came up with the outline. Kanrunakaran developed it.

This film has the backdrop of Delhi and Agra? Do we have much of Hindi in this film?
There would be a bit of Hindi, which would be pretty easily understood by Telugu film lovers.

There are lot many Bollywood character artists like Gulshan Grover, Saurabh Shukla etc. Are they doing positive roles or negative roles?
Most of the characters are negative characters. However there are a couple of positive characters as well.

What is the reason behind picking up Neha Oberai as one of the heroines?
This character needs a girl with innocent, class and sensuous looks. Initially we wanted to cast Asin for that character. But later on, we felt that we need a fresh girl to get the right impact.

I heard that Pawan Kalyan's pants in this film cost around 1.5 lakhs. Is this true?
People are talking about the cost of 1.5 lakhs. But when you compare it to the effort Pawan Kalyan has put in to get that pants, the cost is nothing. There is something special about the character he plays with North Indian backdrop. He did some research and came up with specifications for pants. He went to Milan, Italy and stayed there for 5-6 days to explain the pants makers about what he want. Four months after placing the order, the pants makers delivered it in India. That is the kind of zeal Pawan Kalyan has in filmmaking and that kinds of efforts make him unique.

If he were wearing such an expensive outfit, he should be a rich guy in the film. Is it not?
You must watch the film to know the answer. (giggles)

What is the number of prints you are planning to have for Balu's release?
We have not decided it yet. But it would a big global release with Balu releasing on 6th January in various countries (USA, UK), Mumbai, Delhi, Calcutta, Ahmedabad etc. Telugu film market has grown a lot in USA. Telugu film maker is next to Bollywood market in USA. I hope that Telugu film market in USA would compete with Bollywood films in near future.

You credited your daughter Priyanka Dutt as executive producer for this film. Did she really work for this film or did you add the name as a sentiment?
My daughters have to take over reigns over the legacy of Vyjayanthi banner after me. They have already started working on it. Priyanka Dutt is working for Balu film as an executive producer. Swapna Dutt is involved with Subhash Chandra Bose (Venkatesh - K Raghavendra Rao combination film) as the executive producer. Swapna Dutt has contributed a lot for Subhash Chandra Bose, especially costumes and backdrop. She is doing a course in Studio Arts in USA, which would help her making things better in pre and post production work.

Vyjayanthi is probably one of the very few banners that has been delivering the most successful films constantly for the past 26 years. What made you such a huge successful producer?
The God has been very kind to me. I follow these things rigorously to all my films

1. Judgment: We should be able to follow what movie lovers like in films. We should study the reasons behind the success of the films to gauge the changing tastes of film lovers. Then we must be able to judge if the story - using which we would make the film - would please the audience or not. I guess it is all about judgment.

2. Music and heroism: However big a hero is and whatever stardom he has, I make sure that I pay as much attention I pay to heroism in my films to the music as well.

3. Extravagance and backdrops: I make sure that there is always some exciting backdrop to my films. My films are visually rich with extravagant production values.

You spend such lavish money in making films. Don't you get tensed?
May be I got used to it. When other producers are making films on 4-5 lakhs of budget with NTR as hero, I made my first film 'Eduruleni Manishi' with NTR as hero with a budget of 11 lakhs. Since then I have not looked back.

What are your future projects?
Balu is releasing on 6th January 2005. Venkatesh's Subhash Chandrabose would be releasing in the month end of April 2005. Chiranjeevi - Vijaya Bhaskar combination film would start at a later point of time. Another film would be there in the combination of Mahesh Babu - Gunasekhar as per their availability.

Previous 3 interviews of Aswini Dutt:
Interview 3
Interview 2
Interview 1