‘Is Salaar a remake of Ugramm?’: Prashanth Neel says he wanted to retell the story

Prabhas starrer Salaar will hit the screens worldwide on December 22. Meanwhile, reports of Salaar being a remake of director Prashanth Neel’s Ugramm have been doing rounds on the internet. Now, the director has clarified that he wanted to retell the story of Ugramm because the 2014 film, starring Murali, failed at the box-office. 

In an interview with Kairam Vaashi, the director was indirectly asked if Salaar was a remake of Ugramm. The filmmaker said, “Ugramm was made for theatres. It was made for the cinema halls and I always had that pain. Not to take away anything from KGF, the idea, the world building, it came to me from Ugramm itself. When Ugramm happened and I did not get what I wanted, I made a conscious decision that I am going to do something that will always fill the halls. And KGF did that for me.”

Also read | Prashanth Neel says not afraid of repetition in films like Ugramm, KGF, Salaar: ‘No passion when it comes to cinema, it is a business for me’

Prashanth continued, “But I had so many other subjects that I wanted to explore. And then I said no I have to make that movie because the world hasn’t seen it. I haven’t filled cinema halls for that subject and instead of calling it a remake of Ugramm, I wanted to retell that story. I wanted to fill cinema halls and I am doing that on 22nd. Whatever people think, at the end of the day Ugramm is mine. It’s not a point that I am trying to prove. I want to fulfill one of my deepest ambitions of filling theatres for that particular subject and that is what Salaar is. I have changed a lot of things. I don’t care if people say ‘this fellow cannot think beyond Ugramm and KGF.”’

Like Salaar, Ugramm is also about two friends.