Director Jyothi opens up about VFX criticism in Pawan Kalyan starrer 'Hari Hara Veera Mallu'; acknowledges some CGI flaws, says film's core was never the problem

After much anticipation and delays, 'Hari Hara Veera Mallu: Part 1 – Sword vs Spirit,' starring Power Star Pawan Kalyan, finally hit theaters on July 24. The movie is making good numbers at the box office; however, it also drew some criticism, especially for its visual effects. Recently, director Krish Jagarlamudi shared that he was aware that some visual elements were not completely up to the mark.

Acknowledges CGI flaws, defends storytelling

In an interview with ABN, the 44-year-old director shared that while certain shots did fall short of perfection, the narrative and storytelling remained unaffected. "When they nitpicked, all they could find was that the CGI and VFX were bad in some places. No one could point out the story and screenplay, or say it's boring, or that they can't understand it," he said. Jyothi revealed that the film contains over 4400 VFX shots and admitted that he knew some of them weren't perfect.

"I knew in my heart that a few shots weren't up to par, but it wasn't something huge," he added.

Trolling is inevitable for popular films, says Jyothi.

Jyothi also mentioned the trolling that the movie has been facing ever since it went on floors. He said, "Anyone will troll only those who are in the limelight. People only get views when they write about something famous. I do not take any of the negativity to heart."

Strong box office despite mixed reactions

'HHVM' has performed reasonably well at the box office. As per early trade estimates by Sacnilk, the period action drama has collected Rs 77.57 crore in India alone. The film has managed to pull audiences to theaters and has even had sold-out premieres before release.The film stars Pawan Kalyan as Veera Mallu, Nidhhi Agerwal as Panchami, and Bobby Deol as the Mughal emperor Aurangzeb.