Tollywood actor Bellamkonda Sai Sreenivas made a bold statement about leaving the film industry in a recent interview while promoting his upcoming horror film, Kishkindhapuri. Confident that the film will keep the audience hooked, he told Gulte that he will quit acting should it fail to do so. Here’s what he said.

Bellamkonda Sai Sreenivas challenges he will leave films

While talking about Kishkindhapuri, Sreenivas said that he will leave films if any audience member feels bored enough to look at their phone ten minutes into the film. He said, “What is cinema? If you’re invested in a film for two and a half hours and haven’t looked at your phone, that’s a success. And I think Kishkindhapuri will give that. If anyone looks at their phone after watching Kishkindhapuri for ten minutes, I will leave the film industry. Be it the story or the sound, it is that interesting. We put in a lot of effort to give the audience a good experience.”

X (formerly Twitter) users had some hilarious reactions to his challenge, while others believed he was being sincere. “GK vs Hanuman time lo hanuman director kuda inthe confident ga vunnadu… Let’s see what will happen. (HanuMan director was also this confident when they clashed with Guntur Kaaram).” Another called it, “Bellam anna (brother) mass statement.”

Some were sceptical, “Ilantivi chala chusaru manollu. Promise chesinollu Ikkade unaru. (We’ve seen many promise like this and still work here).” And others joked, “After movie becomes Fhat: Nen vellipotha annadhi hindi film industry ani TFI kadhu. (After the film flops he will say he’s leaving the Hindi film industry, not Telugu).” One wrote, “Anna snap tesina vadilestava industry? (Will you leave the industry even if I Snapchat?)”

Kishkindhapuri’s clash with Mirai

Koushik Peggalapati’s Kishkindhapuri stars Anupama Parameswaran in the lead role, in addition to Sreenivas. On 12 September, it will clash with Karthik Gattamneni, Anil Anand’s Mirai, starring Teja Sajja, Manchu Manoj, and Ritika Nayak.

Recently, in an interview with Great Andhra, Sreenivas expressed frustration at the clash and said, “When we wanted to release the film on 12 September, we had a solo slot. But then another film also joined us. I don’t have any issues with it, but nobody from their team even had the courtesy to call or come to an understanding with our producer.”