The Untold Story Behind Nagarjuna’s Nenunnanu... Director Aditya’s Memories

Nenunnanu is remembered as one of the notable hits in Nagarjuna’s career. At a time when he was struggling with back-to-back flops, the success of the 2002 film Santosham brought him back into the limelight, and Nenunnanu followed as another successful project. Directed by V. N. Aditya and produced by Nagarjuna’s close associate D. Siva Prasad Reddy, the film slowly gained momentum after a mixed opening.

In a recent interview, director Aditya recalled that the team was initially disappointed with the opening talk. Many felt the film might not perform well. But a surprising conversation with a theatre owner in Guntur changed their perspective completely.

Aditya shared that one of his assistant directors reminded him of a dialogue from the film where Nagarjuna says, Accepting defeat also requires courage. At that moment, Aditya feared the film’s fate. Wanting to understand the audience’s response, he and his team visited several theatres.

When they reached a theatre in Guntur during peak summer, the air conditioning wasn’t working, and the hall doors were kept open. Even then, during Venu Madhav’s comedy song and later during the romantic track, the audience remained seated and fully engaged. This confused the team because they expected people to step out during songs.

The theatre manager explained, In summer, audiences usually leave during songs because of the heat. If they are staying inside even during songs, it means they’re completely involved in your film. This gave the team immense confidence. Just as the manager predicted, ‘Nenunnanu’ went on to run successfully in more than 40 centres and celebrated 100 days in multiple theatres.