Pavan Sadineni interview: ‘Gaayapadda Simham’ and its Trump card

The promotional campaign of the Telugu film, Gaayapadda Simham (Wounded Lion), directed by debutant Kasyap Sreenivas, features an AI-generated Donald Trump in conversation with lead actor Tharun Bhascker. The film’s presenter Pavan Sadineni says conversations about Trump are woven into the comedy, which releases in theatres on May 1. “The story is about a guy who aspires to go to the US and make a living. When he gets deported, he wants revenge on Trump,” says Pavan, during this interview at his office in Hyderabad.

Gaayapadda Simham also marks the production debut for Pavan. “I had no plans to turn producer,” says the writer-director. When screenwriter Suyaprakash pitched the storyline, Pavan found it interesting and shared the idea with writer Kasyap. “Kasyap developed the storyline into a script over eight to nine months. It was outrageously hilarious.”