As someone who used to watch the movies of Clint Eastwood, Gregory Peck, Omar Sharif, Chiranjeevi did have fascination for the cowboy genre. Superstar Krishna's Mosagallaki Mosagadu had set a benchmark for the genre in Telugu cinema. When Kodama Simham came his way, he was thrilled and took on the cowboy role.
Ahead of the movie's re-release in theatres on November 21st, Chiru says that the attempt itself was a huge challenge at that time. "I grew a beard for the first time ever. Mohan Babu's character is my personal favourite from the movie. Only he could have aced it that well," the Megastar says. "Every scene, every song, every action sequence, the horse-riding everything was a highlight. All the songs became super hits. Raj-Koti gave fantastic music. Japam Japam Konga Japam is my favourite song," he says, praising Prabhudeva's dance choreography, recalling a challenging shot that was technically superior. Many years later, Hollywood's Inception used a similar trick.
The Vishwambhara actor reveals that Ram Charan used to love the movie as a child. So much so, he would watch it on repeat, especially as a distraction while eating food. "Through this Friday re-release, we want today’s generation to see the cowboy genre we attempted, our dances, our fights, our action sequences, our characterizations," the Waltair Veerayya star adds.
Producer Kaikala Nageswara Rao was intent on making a new kind of genre with Chiru. He thanked the actor for supporting the re-release by participating in promotions. The film has been upgraded to 4K visuals and 5.1 sound at Prasad Labs.
Chiru completed both Jagadeka Veerudu Athiloka Sundari and Kodama Simham simultaneously. In order to make his look suitable for both movies, he suggested that a light beard would be fine. Unexpectedly, it became a trend-setter.
The cast and locations chosen spanned industries and five states. "Pran, Kaikala garu, Mohan Babu, Kannada Prabhakar, Ramalingaiah, Radha, Sonam, acted in our film. What would have taken several months in today's times could be completed in 96 working days," the producer said.
Music director Koti was thrilled to work on the genre. He was observing Ayyappa Deeksha while working on the BGM with total devotion.
Paruchuri Gopalakrishna tweaked the second half and made the film more interesting. Satyanand, Vijayendra Prasad, and Shivashakti Dutta joined him as writers. Satyanand said, "Producer Nageswara Rao garu was determined to make Kodama Simham a landmark film in Chiranjeevi garu’s career."
Director Muralimohan Rao praised the total dedication with which Chiru worked on Kodama Simham.
