The much anticipated Telugu neo-noir action thriller V has released on Amazon Prime Video on Saturday. Sudheer Babu, who played the antagonist in the 2016 Hindi action film Baaghi, is now playing the role of a principled cop who is out to chase a serial killer played by Nani.
The film, which also stars Nivetha Thomas and Aditi Rao Hydari, is releasing on the OTT platform, because of the pandemic. Hours before the release, Sudheer Babu tells TNM that he has tried to maintain the “authenticity” of a cop. “Very often the protocol, rules or body language are taken lightly in some films. One of the main things for V is we wanted the film to be authentic. If a cop is watching this film, Indraganti sir (director Indraganti Mohana Krishna) wanted the film to work even then. So, he arranged interactions with a couple of senior police officers, to understand them and pick up small things I had to take care of. I have tried to maintain the authenticity of a cop, of how he behaves, the protocol he follows, the body language etc,” he says.
The former professional badminton player says that his role in V has been the most authentic and meaningful character he has played. He also says that the film has been more strenuous, because of the intense action sequences which needed more preparation in terms of physical fitness. “A love story would take around 60 days of shoot, this took around 105 days,” he says.
Sudheer’s previous film with director Mohana Krishna Indraganti was the breezy romance-comedy-drama Sammohanam. Among the rest of the actors, Nani made his debut as an actor with the director, while Nivetha Thomas and Aditi Rao Hydari worked with the director in their respective first Telugu films, Gentleman and Sammohanam.
“In our previous film together (Sammohanam), I didn’t know Indraganti sir’s approach, so there was a slight nervousness before going on to the sets. Since all of us have worked with him before, we know his preparation, how he feeds the character into the actor. Once we were on this project, we knew everything would be taken care of, from reading sessions, to Q&A sessions and interactions,” Sudheer says.
About the showdown between his and Nani’s characters, he says, “Generally people talk about chemistry between hero and heroine. V also has great conversations between them, but what works here is the drama and chemistry between the hero and villain, the protagonist and antagonist. Both the characters have a great soul. That’s the USP of this film, even though it is an action drama, there is a lot of soul to it,” he says.
On co-starring with Nani, he says, “There was a lot of give and take, and learning from each other. We both worked together to make the scene work. We are not competing against each other, it was just our characters that are competing,” he says.
V was all set for an Ugadi release in March, before the pandemic disrupted these plans. Pointing to the bright side, Sudheer says, “OTT releases are one good thing that can happen for the film industry, which is in huge losses. We couldn't have asked for a bigger release in this situation. Our audience bases will be bigger, this will help Indian and Telugu films reach news places, every fifth person to watch it is likely to be someone outside India,” he says.
Sudheer is also starring in an upcoming biopic based on badminton player Pullela Gopichand’s life. Speaking about his career plans, he says, “I just want to experiment and do roles I haven’t done before. When I am stepping onto a set, I should have a little fear, and wonder how I am gonna do this. That's what gives me energy to step onto the set,” he says.