The audience is no longer interested in remakes – Allu Sirish

Buddy, Allu Sirish’s upcoming film is scheduled to hit theatres on July 26, but the film’s release has now been moved to August 2. The strong pre-release hype surrounding the latest Deadpool film, set to release on July 26, might be one reason behind this move.

In Sirish’s career, Buddy comes after ABCD (2019), a Telugu remake of Dulquer Salmaan’s ABCD (2013), and Urvasivo Rakshasivo (2022), an adaptation of the Tamil film Pyaar Prema Kaadhal (2018). Buddy borrows several key elements from the Arya starrer Teddy (2021), while retelling the story in an entirely different way.

Reflecting on his evolving equation with remakes as an actor, Sirish notes, “The audience is no longer interested in remakes, period. Films are getting increasingly accessible by the day. Buddy is not a remake. The story has been changed, keeping in mind the tastes of Telugu audience. It is also nothing like the Hollywood film Ted, which deals with the unlikely relationship between a grown man and an anthropomorphic teddy bear. That movie has a lot of double-meaning jokes, we don’t (laughs).”

Veteran comedian Ali, a rare sight in promotional interviews, jokingly mentions that Buddy was shot in his “sontha ooru” Thailand. Speaking about his experience working with Sam Anton, Ali says, “He is a very precise director. Everything was planned ahead and no time was wasted. If I am asked to come to work for two hours on a particular day, I will only have to work for two hours. Nothing less, nothing more.”

Sirish also lauds Sam Anton’s planning and time management, noting, “He might be modest about it, but there was extensive and methodical pre-production before we even stepped foot on the sets. This is a stark contrast to what we see in Telugu film industry, where many teams enter a shoot without enough pre-production, hoping they will just figure out things on the go.”

Buddy is Gayatri Bharadwaj’s second Telugu film after Tiger Nageswara Rao, where she shared screen space with Ravi Teja. The actress plays an air traffic control officer in the film. Comparing her roles so far, Gayatri says, “I played a rustic belle in Tiger Nageswara Rao. I don’t think anyone could recognise me, it was so far removed from my real life personality. That is clearly not the case with Buddy, where I play a modern girl.” Gayatri’s father is a pilot and she also recounted how her father helped the film with his authentic inputs on the aviation industry.

For Sam Anton and Sirish, Buddy was a project destined to happen. Sam says, “We have been meaning to work for almost nine years now. I am glad it has finally happened.” Echoing the warmth shared by Sam, Sirish says, “I would love to work with Sam again. I would also love to work with this very team — Sam, Ali garu, Gayatri — again.”