Devil The British Secret Agent: Filmmaker Naveen Medaram opens up about credits controversy

The upcoming Telugu actioner Devil: The British Secret Agent has been in the making for a long time. As the Devil makers gear up for the film’s theatrical release, filmmaker Naveen Medaram has penned a long note clarifying the credits controversies regarding the film. Naveen Medaram, who was initially directing the film, had a fallout with the producers of Devil after a few months into the production. Subsequently, in the film's new promotional material, producer Abhishek Nama was given the director's credit.

Every element of film bears my personal touch: Naveen Medaram

Taking to his Instagram page, Medaram firmly stated that he was strongly involved in every aspect of the production, before the fall-out. The filmmaker penned, “From conceptualising the script to developing the screenplay, meticulously selecting costumes to fabrics, choosing locations to designing sets, every element of the film bears my personal touch, realising my artistic vision.”

Speaking about the film’s shoot, Medaram elaborated on how he personally was in charge of the film’s production through its 105-day schedule at various locations like Karaikudi, Vizag and Hyderabad. 

I have not taken any legal action against makers, clarified Medaram

Naveen Medaram had been promoting the film on his social media page as recently as five weeks ago. However, there was no official statement from Devil producers about their decision to change director credits, removing Medaram from the credits. 

In his Instagram note, Medaram also mentioned, “The controversy we face today is a result of taking few careless decisions driven by pure ego and greed,” clarifying that he had not taken any legal actions about the makers of Devil. At the same time, Naveen Medaram also extended his gratitude to film’s lead star Nandamuri Kalyanram for ‘working tirelessly for this film and giving his 100 %.’

Devil: The Secret British Agent was announced in July 2021. However, the film’s shoot came to a conclusion only in April 2023, nearly 2 years after the announcement. The film was earlier slated to release on November 24. However, the makers eventually decided to push the release to year end. Devara: The Secret British Agent will now hit the theatres on December 29.