After that success, Srikanth Odela reunited with Nani for The Paradise, a film mounted on a much bigger scale and budget with a huge span.

The hype was massive from the announcement itself. The first glimpse created curiosity. Then two songs became chartbusters. Nani's credibility added even more strength. Even when there were industry reports about issues during production, nothing managed to damage the film's buzz.

That hype exploded on release day as The Paradise opened phenomenally across markets. But once the premiere shows were over, the initial reports came out extremely negative. The biggest problem was the writing and execution. The film gave the impression that Odela had several big ideas and some really exciting blocks, but he completely failed in putting those blocks together into a convincing story.

Some pre-release interviews of the star cast, like Kayadu Lohar, also created the impression that several actors were not fully aware of what the actual script was, where their characters were heading and simply followed Odela's direction with trust. They tried to imply that Odela tried to shoot whatever he could cook up on the sets during the shoot. The final product certainly gave audiences enough reason to doubt that these things might have actually happened on the sets.

After the release, Nani and Odela gave interviews addressing the film's issues. But instead of simply accepting where the film went wrong, there was an attempt to give the impression that they had actually made a great film and that its ideas were not properly understood on screen.

That is where the biggest problem lies. Cinema is ultimately about what reaches the audience on screen. If the director's vision does not translate properly through the screenplay, performances and especially the editing table, the interviews cannot fix it later.

If half the story is explained in the film and the other half is explained through interviews after release, that itself means something has gone terribly wrong with the filmmaking process.

One bad film does not define a director. But The Paradise is the kind of failure that can shake the trust of the audience and producers for future films. Such films destroy credibility, which is very tough to rebuild.

The Paradise was a dream opportunity for any director. Srikanth Odela had a massive star, a huge budget, enormous resources, complete trust and massive hype. Yet he completely failed to turn that opportunity into a memorable film.

He may never again get a project that gives him this kind of freedom, scale or buzz.

Hopefully, Odela learns from these mistakes and comes back with a much better film that proves The Paradise is not a true reflection of his capabilities as a writer and director.