‘Wild Dog’ a new-age commercial film

Nagarjuna opens up on his upcoming release, what inspires him to work with new directors and taking risks

King Nagarjuna is aggressively promoting his upcoming movie Wild Dog which will release on April 2. The movie, which is about NIA’s secret mission to eliminate the terrorists behind a series of bomb blasts in India, is carrying good reports. Excerpts from an interview:

The trailer has increased the expectations of the film. How confident are you?

Trailer is very important to any film. We took equal care on the trailer as we have taken for the film. These days, the audience is deciding whether or not to watch a film based on the trailer. We had 3-4 cuts and finalised on this one. The trailer definitely increased the hype of the film.

Is this film loaded with so much action?

This film needs that. It needs loads of ‘commercial’ action. It will not work out if there is no action. So we took special care and ensured that the action sequences have come well. This is a real story blended with a commercial angle.

You have worked with 40 new directors. How is it working with them?

Certainly, I will be anxious. But I believe newcomers can bring novelty into the stories. My characters will also be novel. I cannot be repetitive. That is one of the reasons. I have had failures as well and I am what I am today due to the new directors and novel subjects I try.

How did Wild Dog happen?

This script was narrated in August 2019. I wanted to complete it in 60 days. We started the shoot in December. We were to finish the shoot in Thailand but it got delayed due to the pandemic. We finished the rest of the film after the lockdown. Wild Dog will be only of the notable roles in my career and I am very confident of the result. It is a very powerful character.

Can you tell us about your character in the film?

I play ACP Vijay Varma who leads a team in NIA. He is a good father, good husband, good officer, and a good team leader. He does anything and everything for the country. He enters NIA to serve the country and believes terrorism makes the country unstable. So, his only aim is to eliminate terrorists. He takes his wife’s permission while going on any mission because he may never come back. I like to be ACP Vijay Varma who does everything to achieve something.

Any inspiration for this character?

I did not meet any real officers but Solomon did a lot of research. He even met a Major who participated in the Surgical Strike. He is on the set to guide us to keep the proceedings as authentic as possible. Seventeen blasts happen in the country, including twin blasts in Hyderabad. It will be gripping enough to see the blasts happening while the investigation happens.

Is it not risky to attempt so much action at this age?

Why? I am just 31 (laughs). Jokes apart, I am a fitness freak and would love to do it. Yes, there were some issues because we had to walk on uneven terrain in Himachal Pradesh. The body would complain at the end of the day. I trained with Hollywood stunt director David Simon to handle the weapons and other action sequences.

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