Supriya Yarlagadda on ‘Dacoit’: When a film has a well-written female lead, I know it has the chops

Producer Supriya Yarlagadda takes in the arrangements on a specially erected set in Hyderabad for her film Dacoit, chats briefly with the crew, and settles in for the interview, a touch hesitant. Usually reticent, she admits she needed a nudge from her team to step into the spotlight.

This marks her 30th year in cinema. She began acting at 17 and produced her first film at 19. The Telugu film industry knows her as a producer and CEO, and as executive director of Annapurna Studios. Yet, a film release still brings nerves. “We are all gamblers,” she says. “We gamble with money, hoping the audience will like our work. We operate somewhere between hope and fear.”

Dacoit, a Telugu-Hindi bilingual film co-written by lead actor Adivi Sesh and director Shaneil Deo, also stars Mrunal Thakur and Anurag Kashyap. Supriya describes it as a “two-hero film,” with Mrunal and Adivi on equal footing in a story that blends love, heist, and action. “It’s a dangerous love story,” she adds. “If a film has a well-written female lead, I know it has the chops.” In Dacoit, Mrunal’s name precedes Adivi’s in the title credits.

Supriya Yarlagadda
| Photo Credit:
Special Arrangement

As the script evolved, Supriya became a sounding board for Sesh and Shaneil, particularly on the female lead’s arc. “Many male writers understand women beautifully, but some haven’t written female characters in depth. It helps to weigh in early in the scripting stage,” she says. “For instance, why assume a woman will respond positively when a man says he loves her? Or that every woman wants to be a mother? I respond to what feels true to the character’s journey.”

She recently played a similar role for director Abhilash Reddy’s motocross film, Biker, offering feedback during the scripting stage.

Hands-on approach

Supriya prefers being a creative producer rather than someone who simply greenlights films and watches the budgets. Known to be hands-on, she is recognised for her problem-solving skills. “I hide my inner turmoil. If I panic, it trickles down to the team,” she says. “I take a similar approach while running the studio.”

Her grounding came early. From the age of six, she listened to her father, Surendra Yarlagadda, and grandfather, Akkineni Nageswara Rao, discuss cinema, budgets, and production. Later, she watched her uncle, Nagarjuna Akkineni, build his career. “Just like I went to school every day, they went to film sets. Production felt like the most natural thing to me,” she recalls.

When her father faced a health issue during Gaayam (1993), high school student Supriya stepped in to handle a schedule. “I was given cash and voucher books and sent to the set,” she says, adding with quiet pride, “I’m now producing Dacoit under my father’s banner.”

Acting, however, was never the plan. She debuted in Akkada Ammayi Ikkada Abbayi (1996) opposite another newcomer — Pawan Kalyan, but quickly realised it wasn’t for her. “I grew up in a home where my brother Sumanth and I had equal opportunities, so I didn’t realise how much gender shapes expectations on screen. It just didn’t feel like me. My granddad knew I would not enjoy it.”

Shaneil Deo, Supriya Yarlagadda, Mrunal Thakur and Adivi Sesh
| Photo Credit:
Special Arrangement

Her first full-fledged stint as a producer came with Aaha (1998), after assisting on Prema Katha, Sumanth’s debut. Several films followed — including Satyam, Manmadhudu, Mass, Manam, Soggade Chinni Nayana — and she took over running the studio at 21. “I’ve been lucky. I’m a product of nepotism; my grandfather’s hard work opened doors. But I showed up every day and had mentors, within and outside the family.”

She briefly returned to screen as an intelligence officer in Goodachari (2018) and may appear in its sequel, but production and the studio remain her mainstay.

Stick to the basics

At a time when drawing audiences to theatres is getting harder, Supriya keeps it simple: “It always comes down to the basics— a well-written script and a team that can execute it.”

Mrunal Thakur and Adivi Sesh in the film
| Photo Credit:
Special Arrangement

Dacoit, first announced in December 2023, took longer than expected. “We shot it simultaneously in Telugu and Hindi. Dubbing was never an option,” she says. “There’s so much emotion, love, anger, and if the lip sync doesn’t match, it just doesn’t feel authentic.” For Sesh, this marks his second bilingual after Major.

She had earlier described a producer as the “emotional owner” of a film, but this time, she says, the load was shared. “Sesh, Shaneil and I carried it together. Some days it felt like a marathon, other days like a sprint or heavy lifting. And yes, there were moments I had to be tough to keep things from getting delayed further.”

She has known Sesh and Shaneil as a duo since Kshanam (2016), where Shaneil was the cinematographer. “He later shot films like Goodachari and directed the short Layla, which screened at Cannes. I saw that and knew we should collaborate,” she says. On the sets of Dacoit, she found it fascinating to watch the two — friends since their San Francisco days — work in sync and juggle multiple roles.

Mrunal, she adds, was always the first choice, even though Shruti Haasan was initially attached before stepping away. “When I first reached out, Mrunal was busy and didn’t want to hear a narration unless she could commit. But Dacoit found its way to her,” she says. Anurag Kashyap, whom Supriya knew from his early days as an assistant director in Hyderabad, also came on board.

Mrunal’s connect with Telugu audiences, she notes, is already strong. “On set, people would call her Sita or Yashna,” she says, referring to her roles in Sita Ramam and Hi Nanna. “That’s the kind of connection she has here.”

(Dacoit releases in theatres on April 10)

Published – April 01, 2026 12:51 pm IST