Director Anil Ravipudi, known for his consistently high success rate at the box office, has carved a strong identity with his brand of clean, family-friendly entertainment rooted in strong regional sensibilities. This entertainment-driven approach has made him one of the most dependable commercial directors in Telugu cinema.
After huge blockbuster Sankranthiki Vastunnam last year, he scored another solid blockbuster this year with Mana Shankara Vara Prasad Garu starring Megastar Chiranjeevi. While Anil Ravipudi is pleased that his films attract interest for remakes in other languages, he has firmly chosen not to direct those remakes himself.
Staying true to this philosophy, he declined opportunities to remake his own films such as Bhagavanth Kesari and Sankranthiki Vastunnam, even when those offers came with major stars and big production backing.
In fact, Bhagavanth Kesari was reportedly offered to Anil Ravipudi for a Tamil remake starring Thalapathy Vijay, but he chose not to helm it and instead narrated a fresh storyline, which did not materialize. The project eventually evolved into Jana Nayagan, featuring significant political elements and several changes.
More recently, his Telugu blockbuster Sankranthiki Vastunnam, starring Victory Venkatesh, Aishwarya Rajesh, and Meenakshi Chaudhary, is being remade in Hindi with Akshay Kumar in the lead, alongside Vidya Balan and Raashi Khanna, and directed by Anees Bazmee. Despite reports that Akshay Kumar and producer Dil Raju approached him to direct the remake, Ravipudi stayed consistent with his stance – choosing originality over remakes.
In recent interview he said, “I feel happy when my films are remade in other languages, but if I’m asked to direct those remakes myself, I would never do it. Even when I had the opportunity to remake films like Sankranthiki Vastunnam and Bhagavanth Kesari, I chose not to. Similarly, the kind of entertainment films I make cannot be shot simultaneously in multiple languages like pan-Indian films, because comedy changes from region to region.”
