Pushpa 2 dialogue writer Srikanth Vissa INTERVIEW: ‘We will be including more characters in Pushpa 3’

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As an ardent follower of Telugu cinema and a die-hard fan of Srikanth Vissa, I must say that this interview with TopMob has been a revelation! The dialogue writer‘s journey into crafting dialogues for Pushpa 2: The Rule, starting from learning the dialect of the Chittoor region to collaborating with Sukumar and Allu Arjun, is nothing short of inspiring.

The highly anticipated film “Pushpa 2: The Rule,” starring Allu Arjun, Rashmika Mandanna, and Fahadh Faasil, is ready to premiere on December 5, 2024. With the movie release just a few hours away, the scriptwriter of the film, Srikanth Vissa, engaged in an exclusive conversation with TopMob, revealing insights about the movie and its sequel, “Pushpa 3: The Rampage.

Moving on from discussing his role in penning the dialogues for the Telugu adaptation of the film, let’s delve into the conversation about his collaboration with Ram Charan and Sukumar on their upcoming project. Here we go!

How did you effortlessly immerse yourself in the dialect of the Chittoor region while writing dialogues for Pushpa: The Rise and Pushpa 2: The Rule, being a Telugu dialogue writer?

Ans. When scripting dialogues for Pushpa: The Rise, I was unfamiliar with the dialect spoken in the Chittoor area of Andhra Pradesh since I hail from its coast. Consequently, I had to educate myself on this dialect as the movie is set there.

In creating Pushpa 2: The Rule, I initially lacked firsthand knowledge about the subject matter and spent considerable time to authentically represent it in the movie, paying attention to the local culture and dialect. Eventually, as I delved into the project, my understanding of Chittoor’s accent and dialect grew so well that people started believing I was a native of the region.

Additionally, we had team members hailing from the same geographical area contributing across different film departments, aiding in dialogue creation. Notably, Allu Arjun (referred to as Bunny) invested three months honing his dialect specifically for this production.

Have you, as the scriptwriter for Pushpa 2 in its original language (Telugu), ever experienced a sense of concern that some of your dialogue may not be fully understood or could be misunderstood when it is translated and dubbed into other languages?

Ans. To be honest, I didn’t notice any of the dialogues sounding off or losing their essence when translated into various languages. It was quite fascinating for me, as someone who also knows Hindi, to create a phrase like “Thaggedh Le” that carries a similar spirit in Telugu – it means something like “I won’t give up.

Instead, let me rephrase it for you: In Hindi, they employed the phrase “Har Ghiz Jhookega Nahi,” which translates to “He’ll never bow down.” This version of the catchphrase struck me as more powerful and fitting for our hero while maintaining its intended impact. I’ve always found that my dialogue translates effectively in different languages.

Despite not speaking other languages, the writer of the Tamil film dialogues once phoned me and shared his joy and enthusiasm about crafting the script for the movie.

A. Was it surprising to you that the phrase “Pushpa, flower among the fire” from Pushpa 1 and “the wildfire” in the Pushpa 2 trailer gained so much popularity? Had you anticipated that this catchphrase would become so well-known?

As I penned the script for the initial film, I hadn’t anticipated its massive success. The phrase resonated so strongly with people that… I was overjoyed to see it strike such a chord.

I was astonished, almost disbelieving, when our Union Defense Minister, Rajnath Singh, incorporated our popular catchphrase into one of his speeches. It gave me quite a thrill!

In crafting the sequel, our aim was to preserve the core spirit of the initial story and further develop Pushpa’s character as depicted in his iconic “Wildfire” dialogue. It brings me immense joy to see that this approach resonated so well with audiences everywhere.

As an ardent admirer, I can’t help but share my exhilaration about collaborating with the legendary Sukumar, a director renowned for his solo screenplay ventures, with just a few exceptions in his impressive body of work. Working alongside him on a project of such colossal scale was nothing short of a dream come true. The experience was invigorating, enlightening, and truly humbling as I learned from his exceptional storytelling prowess.

Answer: Sukumar initially began working on the film Pushpa as early as 2018, without any specific story or script in place. Instead, he had a concept for a movie centered around red sandalwood smuggling and the environment associated with it.

As the narrative unfolded, Sukumar Garu reached out to our journalist acquaintances who shared details about the illegal trading business with us. Consequently, Sukumar developed diverse characters like Pushpa, and constructed a universe centered around this illicit activity.

A. It’s been confirmed that there will be a third installment of Pushpa, titled Pushpa 3: The Rampage. What can we anticipate from the upcoming collaboration between Allu Arjun and director Sukumar? Is there any news about who might play the villain in this sequel?

As a devoted admirer, I can’t help but feel that there was so much more to explore within the realm of Pushpa. With each word we penned, the scenes in the film expanded, enriching the narrative with an array of fresh characters, thereby magnifying its scope.

Moving forward, the upcoming chapter titled “Pushpa 3: The Rampage” promises to outshine its predecessor, “Pushpa 2: The Rule,” by being larger, more elaborate, and even more captivating. In this next installment, we plan to incorporate a wider array of characters into the overall storyline.

As for the antagonists in the upcoming third movie, we haven’t announced who will portray them just yet. We have reached out to several prominent Bollywood stars to take on these roles, but nothing has been officially decided.

Q. Apart from Pushpa 3, what else are you working on that we can expect in the upcoming days?

Apart from “Pushpa 3: The Rampage”, my next projects include the sequels of “Bimbisara 2” and “Bimbisara 3”. The narrative structure demands that they are worked on one after another, so I will be focusing on those. Furthermore, I am currently developing a new film featuring Ram Pothineni as the main character, but details about it have not been disclosed yet.

Additionally, I’ll be teaming up with Sukumar again for his upcoming film starring Ram Charan (RC17). It appears that Sukumar plans to take a month-long break following the completion of Pushpa 2 before we begin our work together. I can hardly contain my excitement about being part of this project!

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2024-12-04 12:23