South Indian superstar Nagarjuna will wage a war on terror in his latest action thriller ‘Wild Dog’, releasing in UAE cinemas on April 2.
In the movie directed by Ahishor Solomon, Nagarjuna will play the fictional head of India’s counter-terrorism task force National Investigation Agency (NIA), which is trying to find the people behind the twin blasts in Hyderabad in 2013. The film is based on real events and will re-create the anti-terror squad’s investigations leading up to the arrest of the criminals responsible for the Dilsukhnagar explosions that killed dozens and injured many others.
The explosions were carried out 10 minutes apart and brought the city to a standstill. But the NIA famously swung into action and traced the terrorists — five members of the Indian Mujahideen, including the group’s co-founder Yasin Bhatkal. It was a significant milestone as it was one of the rare times that members of an extremist group were convicted and sentenced by an Indian court. But the movie isn’t about the devastation of the attack, claims the lead actor.
“Fortunately, we didn’t get into showing the carnage following a terrorist blast. We don’t see dead bodies lying around or limbs severed. Our film begins after four or five days after the blasts. The NIA is on call to trace the clues that led to the blasts. But it brought back memories. I am from Hyderabad and I remember the twin blasts. It shook the whole city up.
“So many people died during that time and it was a traumatic and stressful time. The movie brought back those unpleasant memories. But this movie will not evoke unpleasant memories because we wanted to be sensitive and didn’t want to disturb viewers,” said Nagarjuna in an exclusive interview over Zoom.
The seasoned actor, who is one of South India’s long-enduring matinee idols, believes that his latest film will evoke a sense of nationalistic pride.
Nagarjuna “This movie is more about how the NIA conducts such investigations and their service to their own country. This movie will stoke a sense of pride in your own nation in an uplifting way, without being jingoistic. If you have seen the original ‘24’, it’s like watching one of those episodes and fills you with an adrenalin rush,” said Nagarjuna.
‘Wild Dog’ is based on NIA in India and their activities during the twin blasts that happened in Hyderabad. Remember the twin blasts in Hyderabad and that German Bakery Blast. We took it from there. But it’s not about the blasts per se, but it’s about the investigations after that blast and how they apprehended the outfit leader and brought him back to India.
