Young and talented filmmaker TG Keerthi Kumar debuted with Sumanth Yarlagadda’s Malli Modalaindi and he is now helming Vennela Kishore's Chaari 111 which is headed for release on the 1st of March.

With the release date fast approaching, the director sat down for a brief chitchat as he opened up about the film and gave a few interesting tidbits. The film is produced by Aditi Soni under Barkat Studios banner.

Talking about his career, he said "I never worked in the direction department before starting my career. I started as an editor after doing a course in visual communication. I edited TV commercials and corporate films for nearly 10 years early in my career. I then worked on my debut film Malli Modalaindi."

Talking about Chaari 111, he said "Vennela Kishore acted as a comedian in my debut film Malli Modalaindi and I pitched the idea of Chaari 111 to him then. Later I shared the script with him. He read the script and okayed the project even without the script narration. He trusted in me from day 1."

Talking about Chaari 111 idea, he said "This film is inspired from the core theme of Pink Panther and Johnny English. I liked those spy comedies a lot and it propelled me to develop this script. For a film like Chaari 111, the casting is very important and I was lucky enough to get Vennela Kishore and Murali Sharma onboard for the film. This is a character driven film and the conflict and villain will come later."

Talking about the film, he said "Our film is a spy action comedy. For instance, James Bond is a spy actioner, Johnny English is a spy comedy. My film falls under the second category. I wrote this script with Vennela Kishore in mind. I wouldn't have done this film hadn't Kishore approved the script."

Talking about inspiration, he said "Yes there is. We have Chiranjeevi Garu's Rudranetra in Telugu. I named the main agency in our film after the Chiranjeevi starrer. There's Chantabbayi as well which is a true inspiration."

Talking about Murali Sharma, he said "In our film, Kishore's character irritates his boss to no end. I wanted a serious-looking actor for the role and that's why I went with Murali Sharma garu."

Talking about importance of villain, he said "There's a reason why the villain wears a mask in our film. I wasn't a conscious effort to hide the villain but on the story front, it has an interesting touch. So we decided to hold the suspense for marketing purpose."

Talking about seuqel plan and franchise expansion, he said "If you observe in the trailer, Rudranetra is an agency. There is scope to bring more heroes onboard into the idea. There is the plan to make sequel for Chaari 111, I must admit. There is a lot of potential to make spy comedies in this universe."