Besides taking on a prominent role in Parachute, Krishna also served as its producer. It is his debut production in Tamil, but the actor says that he could manage these two different roles with ease, thanks to his production team. “We have an excellent team, with Madhan to head the production. There were moments when I felt like there was a lack of activity on set (laughs) and I was tensed about whether production was getting late because of me. But Madhan ensured that I was not overwhelmed with such thoughts.”
Having been a producer since 2018, Krishna knows a thing or two about pitching a project to a distributor and convincing them. He says the process has changed over the years. “Back in 2018, we would only pitch the story. Then, if they commission the project, we would develop the screenplay, story beats, and dialogues, and there could be multiple iterations. After all the changes, it was a task for the creative team of my production house to come to an agreement with the platform.
A bound script would be made and shooting would start only after that,” says Krishna citing the time it took for his series Jhansi (2022) to go from conception to production. He goes on to add, “However, today, we pitch a project with its story, beats, and screenplay without dialogues. Because OTT platforms cannot wait that long. They do not want to spend more than six months in the writing stage, which I think is fair enough.” Krishna says that he could have got the inspiration to become a producer from his late father Kulasekaran.
“When my father produced or my brother directed films, I would not interfere. Likewise, when I acted, they would not give any suggestions. But at the back of my head, I always thought about my father’s production and I observed some of his work. So the inspiration could be from my father,” says Krishna. He adds, “When there was criticism for my work, my father always encouraged me to do what I felt was right.”
Speaking of criticism, a candid Krishna puts his failures from 2016 to 2018 down to the “stress” he faced after he was “handed over a huge debt.” He says, “I missed out on many films because of that. Whatever films I did, I was hopeful of their success. I had certain compulsions, and while there were some films that worked, others turned out to be mediocre.” However, the actor seems to have learnt a crucial lesson from all the failures. “I treat success and failure equally.
My third film was a blockbuster, but I could not celebrate it because my first and second films did not work well.” Krishna further reveals, “This is why I did not give interviews when Kazhugu (2012) became a hit or Yaamirukka Bayamey (2014) became a blockbuster.” On his biggest learning through the years of failures, Krishna says, “Do not get too excited for successes because they show you how it would be to fall.”
