Interview with Sriram

This is the first interview of Srikanth aka Sriram on web...

Sriram (srikanth for tamil audience ) going on very well with a hatrick of hits in Tamil, and an average fourth one made his entry into telugu films with okariki okaru which is doing well at the box office.

The Telugu-born hero recently got an international award from Malayisa for the best new actor for his first film Rojapulu.
I could catch hold of the after a long wait for almost a week

Here are the experts of the interview:

Sri : I came to know that you are from Andhra Pradesh, could you tell me something about your back ground?
Sriram : Yes you are right, (smiles) I am from Hyderabad. I studied until my 10th class in Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, Jubilee hills. My father used to work in State bank of India in king koti and my mother in Telephones Department in lakdikapool.

After my tenth Standard we have to shift to Madras as my father got transferred to that place. So, I joined college in Madras. I did my B.Sc in computer science. That is the reason I am familiar with the both the languages.

Sri : What made you enter into this film Industry?
Sriram : I wanted to become an actor. So I started approaching the directors. I don�t even know that I need to have a good portfolio for a good presentation.

I took just the ordinary pictures for the presentation. I was selected for kadalar Virus by director Kadhir. After 10 months and just before the muhurt day I was dropped. I was shattered. I don�t know the reasons.

But kadhir sir introduced me to Jeeva who is planning to do 12 B and asked for my portfolio. I didn�t have any. Then my mother gave her savings and with that I made my portfolio. You know it costs like 15, 000 rupees. Which is very costly for a middle class family like us.

After the portfolio I got the chance of doing an Ad for Sprite and I earned 40,000 and I repaid my mother.

After that I got a couple of chances in advertisements. After seeing advertisements and my portfolio the producers of Rojakuttam (Roja pulu in Telugu), Oscar Ravichandhran and Sasi (director) gave me the opportunity.

My parents fixed a span of two years for me to enter into films and consolidate myself, if I am unable to achieve the target, I was asked to join in some job.

But with the blessings of my parents I made it today. I am happy because they supported me when I needed the most.

Sri: How come you made your way into Tollywood when you are busy with the Tamil films?
Sriram : When Rojapulu was dubbed into telugu many offers came to me from Telugu producers. I was really excited, but I was already committed in many tamil films.

So, I cannot readily give dates for them. But when Gemini kiran garu and rasool garu approached with a good script which centers around me, I was tempted and did the film. The film came out very good and I am very much thankful to rasool garu and kiran garu for the opportunity given to me.

Sri: Being a Telugu guy how come sri (music director) dubbed you voice in okariki okaru?
Sriram : It is an unfortunate, even I am not very happy with that, but what can we do? I am too busy in running between Pondicherry and Ooty for the shootings and the dubbing, pre release mixing are in Hyderabad.

So I cannot adjust dates for the dubbing. And we need to release the film without the delay. When I can dub my own in tamil films why cannot I do in telugu which is my mother tongue. I am also disappointed, but next time I will make sure I have some dates for the post productions works, so that I can dub my own dialogues in the next telugu film. Now okariki okaru is being dubbed in Tamil and I have already completed the dubbing for the same in Tamil version.

Sri: Your favorite directors with whom you love to work?
Sriram : Beyond doubt, it will be Maniratnam. I am knocking his doors since a long time. Then from tamil I like to do with bala, fazil etc,.

In Telugu I am longing to work with Krishnavamsi, I missed couple of chances with him. He approached me immediately after Rojakuttam (roja pulu in telugu), but the dates could not be adjusted at that time.
I had a talk with him recently in okariki okaru shooting.

But I would definitely like to do a film with him, he is a tremendous director. And there are many new directors in telugu who are very talented and hardworking the list will be big (laughs), like Poori and Vinayak etc.. I am ready to work with them given a chance and prove myself.

Sri: what are the elements you look for before selecting a script?
Sriram : Definitely the story. It is not that story should revolve around me. But it should have a combination of everything. Like action, comedy, love, sentiments everything should be interwoven. It should satisfy the all types of audiences, then the proper director to handle it. Luckily so far I got that type of directors.

Sri : who is your favourite actor in the present ?
Sriram : It is chiranjeevi in telugu. And Rajani in tamil. I recently met chiranjeevi sir in jyothika� birthday party, that is the most happiest movement for me. He is such a good person I cannot tell in words. He promised to watch the okariki okaru with me when I come to Hyderabad. He gave me his blessings. He such a nice person. At this age also his dances are amazing. He is an icon. Every mother like to have a son like him, or sees his son in him. Every brother looks at him as an elder brother. And he is such a down to earth person, It is a dream coming true to me. I never expected him to be that simple. And you know about Rajani sir. He is also such a down to earth person. I hope if I can achieve 20 percent of what they are today I will be proud.

Sri: What about the heroines you work with ? Do you prefer any particular person and recommend ?
Sriram : No that all depends on the director and producer. It is entirely their choice.

Sri : so far you worked with the senior heroines like bhoomika and sneha what are your experiences with them?
Sriram : (on bhoomika) oh she is tremendous actress. Working with her is like my dream coming true. I forget everything until I completed a schedule .Though she had couple of films before this and she is much more talented then me. She is pretty down to earth. There is this particular scene where I need to slap her. That shot was on front of the crowd.

I am unable to do it in one take. She encouraged me to do it again and again. The crowd is so much upset that I am hitting a girl and I myself is unable to do it. I am also upset as I cannot lift hand on a girl (laughs). She became so upset and said if you are not going to do again (until the shot is done) I will walk away from the film. I did it finally after three takes and the fourth one was the right one.

Another great thing about her is that she cannot understand tamil, she used to practice the dialogues in her make up room all the time. She used to write in English and in Hindi and used to practice in her make up room. I am fortunate to work with her in my first film. We are still good friends.
On Sneha : she is another actress whom I worked in two films. She is another great actress. Working with her is always a pleasure. I worked with � April Mathathil� and partiban kannavu with her. She is a dedicated actress. One day while coming to the shooting for april mathathil she met with an accident and broke her leg. But she didn�t informed anything about it and completed the shooting with that pain. She is that dedicated.

Sri : (interrupting his flow) but I thought it is you met with the accident at that time?
Sriram : (laughs) yes I also met with the accident after that. When the producer got to know that she is acting with the cruches he gave one month holiday for the shooting. Meanwhile I met with the car accident and was in bed for that one month and enjoyed the holidays in that � (laughs).

Sri: she is another good actress. But how come she is not acting anymore?
Sriram : that is because of the rumors about her that she is getting married soon. I don�t know why press some times does like that. Because of this producers are feared that she might get married in the middle of the picture which will be a bad for the film.

Sri: what about the rumors about your love affair with her?
Sriram : As you said they are rumors, not true. They even got us married with out our knowledge . I don�t know what satisfaction they get in spreading this rumors. It is not all the press who does that, only few.
I think sneha is doing a telugu film now. She is good at her acting, a good professional.

Sri: what about your future projects?
Sriram : I am doing a film with ayam perumal for the film joot , ayam perumal is the one who directed dum dum dum earlier and he is from maniratnam sir school. I just completed a fight scene composed by vijayan sir the film heroine is meera jasmin.

Sri: the heroine of the film �RUN�?
Sriram : yes. She is a live wire. Great actress. She gives good competition to act. I think she is doing a film with Pawan kalayan garu now.

I am also doing another film varnajalam with Sada, she is another natural actress. You will be surprised how they acts so natural and which makes you work more harder to prove your self. I like their natural flavor of acting and I am trying to improve more and more by watching them, Another film I am doing is annasalai for the producers of partiban kannavu and the heroine will be sonia agariwal who acted in kadal kondedan (this film is getting remade in telugu with allari naresh as a hero). There are another two films after this. So I will be busy until the end of the next year (laughs).

Sri: Do you have any brothers and sisters?
Sriram : yes I have one elder brother who works in Washington DC in cannon. He is there for last seven years. He just came here for a visit after seven years. My parents went to America for a visit. My sister-in-law is also working in USA.

Sri : so when are you coming to America?
Sriram : Actually we are supposed to shot second half of okariki okaru there (America). But it was done in Austria in the last minute. I was excited about it when I thought it will be America. But I think I will do it some time for some another film.

Sri : any message to our readers?
Sriram :I wish them a happy diwali and I like to see their inputs on my first telugu straight film.

Telugu cinema suffers abroad

In 2007, the success rate abroad has been very less compared to that in previous years. Two reasons stand out essentially for this poor fare: huge star cast coupled with bad stories and sky-high prices boasting star power. How good is it working for anyone?! The producer who demands an astronomical price for the product, and is getting it, is definitely being benefitted. And, the distributors who do not have any cooperation among themselves are leaping each other with unaffordable rates and are grabbing half-baked products and are releasing them with very high ticket prices to unsuspected audience, so that they can recover their costs.
So, finally, who's losing in the whole ordeal? Poor audiences and exhibitors (sometimes distributors also) who are unable to recover their monies; the producers are happily laughing their way to the bank, giving statements of records to the media for a little more hype!

This year, it all started with the film Desamuduru, which was a super hit in India. The film was brought for Rs 80 Lakhs, as the film's director was Puri Jagannadh, the guy who made the blockbuster Pokiri last year. Yet, Desamuduru turned out as a damp squib abroad. It lost Fifteen Lakhs but it is exhibitors who lost heavily; most of them could not able to recover the theatre rents. As a comparison, Allu Arjun's previous film Happy was bought for less than ten lakh rupees (which includes the seven prints) and turned out to be a profitable venture for the distributors as well as the exhibitors, thanks to its affordable price. When Desamuduru was bought for an astronomical price, the result was distasteful, not because the movie's talk was bad but because it just could not get as much money as has been invested - the estimated loss is as high as sixty lakh rupees! Incidentally though, the same distributor got rights for Shivaji, also at a hefty price that was never before offered to a dubbing film, and the movie's successful fare abroad had given him a breath of fresh air!

Great India films screened abroad the films Jagadam, Madhumasam, Chandamama, Chiruta, and Tulasi this year. Except for the film Madhumasam, all other films left them in cold waters. Before the release of these films, however, everything seemed perfect and "hot". Jagadam, sold in the name of its director Sukumar of Arya fame, was bought for forty lakh rupees. Chandamama, the creator of which is known - particularly among NRI audiences - to be "not creative of late", but they went ahead and got the rights for twenty lakh rupees. Madhumasam was more of a break-even and even made a little profit as it was bought for a lower price. Chiruta, the debut of the megastar's son in combination with the director Puri of Pokiri, was bought for an absurdly heavy price of 1.6 crore rupees, ...plus prints! The ticket prices were hiked to be $16-25, but the film was publicized a lot too, but the film ended up in a loss of forty lakhs despite all efforts.

Tulasi has another story to tell: The film was sold for ninety lakh rupees, a sum such as which was never heard of for any film of venkatesh in the past, thanks to the success of his previous two films ( Aadavari Maatalaku Arthaale Verule...! and Lakshmi) in India. (It may be important to note that Lakshmi was a disaster in the USA while the former saw a business that was about break-even-to-loss abroad.) Eventually, Tulasi is saw a loss of at least sixty lakh rupees for the distributor, since no one seems to be interested in the film after it's bought and released.

RK Films, which gave the blockbuster Bommarillu last year, released three films this year - Munna, Yogi, and Happy Days. Except the latest project, the rest of the films left them unhappy with a loss of about a crore! These two flops were but examples of big movies with high price tags but poor story line, and have thus failed to garner decent openings even. Happy Days, on the other hand, was bought for a big amount, but it still paid off in spite of the story being a regular college campus love story, thanks to the name Sekhar Kammula.

Tolly2Holly screened Pellaina Kottalo, Dhee, Dubai Seenu and Aata. Excepting Aata, all others went ahead to become decent hits and brought profits too, as they were not expensive deals. Aata, which came from the much-celebrated production house and boasted a crazy lead pair, left them shocked and was really a dangerous "game" that left a dent of at least 50% of the seventy lakh rupees of distributors' money.

NRI Chitram released Lakshmi Kalyanam, Maharadi, Aadavari Maatalaki Arthaale Verule...! and Allare Allari this year. Aadavari Maatalaki Arthaale Verule...! was bought for ninety lakh rupees, and became an average, barely break-even fare for the distributor. The rest of the films, all relatively small films, left them with a loss of at least twenty to thirty lakh rupees.

KAD Distribution Company, which used to get all the big star cast films, has almost stopped screening films abroad. This year, they just screened Classmates, which was also because of their good rapport with the producer Ravikishore. Needless to say, the story was not a happy ending for them.

Prawasi Films got the rights of Athidi and Yamadonga. The former was priced more than the gross collections of Pokiri. Can they really recover such a huge amount?! The film was a losing proportion from the very beginning, in spite of charging triple the regular ticket price at places. Yamadonga was a break-even abroad, though it was a super hit in India, marking the first major decent fare abroad for the film's hero Jr. NTR.

Chiru's Shankar Dada Zindabad was one of the major disasters of the year. Being a very poor fare from the first show itself, the film left a big hole in the pockets of the distributors as well as the exhibitors.
Some other films like Seetharamudu, Raghavan (dubbed from Tamil), Adivaram Aadavallaku Selavu, Operation Duryodhana,, Evadaite naakenti etc. had single-day screenings or no screenings at all in spite of being bought into the USA.

Problems with distribution areas:Previously, we used to have a good market in Dubai, but the market there is now nearly zero. The theaters that were previously owned by Indians are now sold off to the local exhibitors who demand seventy percent of the revenue from the screening, which will not work out for Telugu films at any cost. In Singapore and Malaysia, however, rumor mill has it that pirated DVDs are being created after screening films in these countries. Thus, the producers are themselves apprehensive about sending their films to these countries.For these reasons, 20-25% of the market is nearly dry, and the burden of the cost is naturally put on the other areas such as USA.

Problems of the distributors:
Distributors do not have unity in this area. Every distributor is lapping on another with "better" offer to grab a film. Even after buying a film with such an extraordinary price, they do not have freedom to sell the areas on their own terms. Sometimes, they need to show the producer for the rates they are selling and follow their terms. Most of the times, they get their prints later than the initially promised time, which leaves them paying high rents for the theatres without any revenue, and this loss had never in the past been compensated by the producers. The worst part is that the distributors do get the prints but with some reels missing, and the producers promise to compensate only a very meagre part of the loss incurred thus!There was a time when the distributors were compensated if a film was a flop, by offering the next film (of the hero/director/production house) at a lower price, but that's not any more the case, essentially because the distributors do not have one voice of unison anymore. The producers are happily going with one who gives them the highest price, not bothering about the ones that lost money in the past due to their previous flops.

Exhibitors' problems:
The exhibitors have to pay a high price for a relatively small film too. None of the recent films made money to the exhibitors despite higher ticket prices, due to higher theater rentals and due to non-availability of decent theaters for screening, enough to attract viewers.

Audience problems:
Go to any film, they have to pay four times of what they can pay for an English film! Due to the higher rate of the ticket prices, families keep away from theatres. The rate of the tickets in the recent times hit $25 per person for films like Chiruta and Athidi which is too much for any cine lover to bear for one movie, not to mention the price for commute.Rumors have it that the distributors are planning to keep away from Telugu films for at least for next six months, so that films are offered at lesser costs. But, will they stick to their words with big films like Jalsa, Okka Magaadu, Dasavatharam (dubbed from Tamil), etc. coming in for the January? Sources say that both the straight films above are asking not less then a one crore plus each.

Do these heroes have that much market abroad? What was each one's last super hit film here? What profits did the film bring to the overseas distributors? Don, which is slated for release in December, was also bought for an astronomical price that crossed all the collections of Nagarjuna's films before. As long as the distributors and the exhibitors do not have unity, producers will happily make the hay while sun shines, and it is the poor cine lovers who end up paying higher and higher ticket prices for no fault of theirs. With these higher prices, if one is motivated to watch every film online, albeit a pirated copy, who's to be blamed?

Article by Sri
Compiled and Edited by Nachaki

Interview with Sumanth

This is Sumanth's first web interview. We met in the shooting of Yuvakudu. Bhoomika was also there. As she is pure Vegitarian Jayasudha used to bring home cooked Vegitarian food from her house.

Telugucinema.com proudly presents....... an exclusive INTERVIEW with upcoming Hero SUMANTH. Sumanth, the third generation hero from ANR�s family, believes `acting is in his genes�. Though his first film did not do well at the box office, it certainly earned him a formidable place. A natural actor, he wants to prove himself on the tinsel screen. Sumanth takes Telugu Cinema browsers into confidence and pours out his feelings.

Sri: Education and childhood ambitions
Sumanth: I had my schooling in Hyderabad at Hyderabad Public School, Begumpet. Then I went to USA to become an engineer. But I shifted to film and video joining Columbia. At Columbia I concentrated on direction.

Sri: Then why acting?
Sumanth: I always feel acting is something which is instinctive, Relatively direction is more technical and training is needed. Learning direction and other things behind the camera complements the acting. Hence I learned them all.

Sri: Inspiration for acting
Sumanth: My grandpa is a major inspiration and then chinna mamayya. I grew up with them. Naturally I am inclined to that.

Sri: Any training in acting
Sumanth: Not at all. My first movement before camera is the first shot of Premakatha.

Sri: Surprisingly natural acting!
Sumanth: Probably it has a lot to do with genes. My grandfather and uncle were major driving forces for acting in Premakatha. Credit also goes to Ramu.

Sri: So natural as rural guy
Sumanth: I don't know how I did that. It came very naturally. We speak Telugu at home. I have grown up with Grandpa. He was very particular about Telugu. We don�t even call out parents as Mummy and Daddy.

Sri: Voice is the main
Sumanth: My grandpa kills me if somebody else dubs my voice. Even I feel voice is a very integral part of character. It gives the identity. If I do not dub my voice, I am not keeping myself. I am not true to myself. Hence I am dubbing for myself from the beginning�

Sri: But a common feature for heroines
Sumanth: It is unfortunate that we are not having many Telugu girls coming forward. We were very particular about Telugu girl for the present film. But we could not find one. The Bombay girls are more exposed to modelling and media and coming forward.

Sri: Any difficulty with non-Telugu heroines
Sumanth: It is not difficulty. But certainly there is a difference. Though we explain everything to them we miss some natural thing in it. If somebody understands the language in which she is acting she can do it better. Take the examples of Jayasudha and Sridevi. They act in a very natural way.

Sri: Any burden of having legendary ancestor?
Sumanth: Being the grandson of a legend, I am always proud. But the legendary was never a burden on me. It puts lot of responsibility on me. Hence I worked very hard in Premakatha which established me as an actor. If that legendary were not there I would not have done so well.

Sri: Other films and Projects
Sumanth: Apart from this I am doing another film under Raghavendra Rao�s direction. I am acting with Thatha garu (ANR) in that. It is Aswanidath�s production. After that I will be doing a film for SubbaramiReddy �s Gayathri Films under Kodi Ramakrishna�s direction. Then I have another film to be directed by Jayanth and produced by my father and Sivaprasad.

Sri: Do you select your heroine?
Sumanth: No. I will never interfere in selecting the heroine. I am only concerned with the script. If something is wrong with the script I would point out. After all it is my career. Once I say OK to the script I will confine to my acting.

Sri: Encouraging new directors
Sumanth: Until I establish myself properly there is no point in involving new director. Once I have firm foot in the industry I will be the first person to encourage new directors. I have already spoken to many and keen to work with one of them. But I told him the exact reason and asked him to wait for a couple of films.

Sri: Favourite actors other than the family
Sumanth: Amitab Bachan and Amir khan are my favourite heroes. I like Amir khan in Rangeela. In Kodi's film I am doing a role on those lines. From Hollywood Marlin Brando is my favourite. Sridevi is my favourite actress. I still get nervous when I meet her.

Sri: Any plans for Bollywood
Sumanth: Immediately not interested. I am very content. I will concentrate in Telugu. My primary goal is to establish myself in the little kingdom of Telugu.

Sri: Any dream role
Sumanth: Something like My grandpa�s role in Navarathri. I want to do something like that.

Sri: Favourite spot
Sumanth: Home. My home, which is my grandpa�s home and my uncle�s home. I always move around these two places
.
Sri: Ideas on marriage
Sumanth: I prefer love marriage

Sri: Anything in the process
Sumanth: Nothing. I hope to have one in future. (laugh)

Sri: Any message for Telugucinema.com
Sumanth: Thanks for all the support people are giving us through the site.

palleTooru (1952)

People's art production
palleTooru (1952)

Technical
Producer: P.Sivaramaiah
Director: Tatineni Prakasa Rao (debut)
Music: Ghantasala Venkateswara Rao
Lyrics: Vasireddy, Sunkara, Sri Sri, Vemulapalli Srikrishna
Script writers: Tatineni Prakasa rao, M.S.Chowdary, Vasireddy, Sunkara
Singers: Ghantasala, P. leela, T.G. Kamalaadevi, V. Sarala, Baby krishnaveni, P. Naageswara Rao, Maadhavapeddi satyam, M.S. Rama Rao, B.Gopalam

Cast:

N.T.Rama Rao ---- Chandram

Savitri --- suguNa

S.V. Ranga Rao --- gaNapati

T.G. Kamala Dev --- Saanta

Nagabhushanam --- konDayya

Seshamaamba --- Pichamma

Padmavathi --- Siitamma

Baby krishnaveni

Koduru acchayya --- saambayya

Mikkilineni Raadhaa Krishna murthy --- Lawyer

Hemalatha --- Lawyer's wife

chadalavaaDa Kutumba Rao --- subbanna

RamaNaa Reddy --- Sankaram

Songs:***image2***
vacchindOy sankraanti --- Chorus

Srii RamadramaaNa govindO hari. naaku abhayamu iyy kunte vadalanu (haridaasu paaTa)

raajunuraa nE raajunuraa --- saraLa with baby kRshNavENi

gangaa nadi teeramuna unnadi oka chakkani ooru (harikatha)

chEyetti jai koTTu telugODaa gatamento ghanakeerti kalavODaa - ghanTasaala, chorus

polaalanannii halaala dunni - ghanTasaala, chorus

aa manasulOna aa choopulOna parugulettE madhura bhaavanaa mallika � GhanTasala

raama hare Sreerama hare.. Rama hare ani palukave manasa

ammaa� seetamma� Apadala paalayitivaa� Ghantasala

dESa sEvakula hRdayam, navaneeta tulyamaa hRdayam --

O miThaari! dil kaThaari! nannu chErave.. O vayari chenta cheri�

aa sankraantiki ee sankraantiki enta vibhEdhamO

korinadistaaDu annaya naaku korinadistaaDu --- Baby Krishnaveni

aandhruDaa! lEvaraa! aandhruda biraana -- chorus

The film's outdoor shooting was done at ghanTasaalapaalem village in Krishna district.
Story of the film:Movie starts with the sankraanti song and it was picturized at Ghantasaalapaalem village beautifully. Chandram (NTR) is a progressive youth, wants to improve his village. In the same village lives ganapathi (S.V.R), who is a womanizer. Chandram is in love with the neighbor Sambaiah's (koduru acchayya) daughter Suguna (saavitri). Ganapathi's aide's are kondayya (nagabhusanam) and Sankaram (ramaNaa Reddy). Chandram opposes ganapati's proposal of removing the library (visalaandhra) from the village for replacing it with aaSramam for baalayOgi. Ganapati sees Saanta in aaSramam and tries to molest her. Luckily she escapes. Sankaram informs konDayya that she is in affair with chandram. Kondayya believes this and asks his wife to leave the house. Shanta leaves the house and takes shelter at chandram's house. Pichamma abuses chandram's sister (krishnaveni) about Saanta. Saanta leaves the house and takes shelter in lawyer's house in town.
Chandram proposes suguNa, while suguNa's father agrees to give her hand to ganapati on the insistence of ganapati's sister piccamma (SEshamaamba). KonDayya gets arrested by police on a false case, which was framed by gaNapati. konDayya realizes the truth about gaNapati. Saambayya realizes that ganapathi is not good and cancels the marriage. Sitamma (chandram's mother) dies because she of not getting the medical treatment as gaNapati threatens the doctor if he treats her.
Sankaram hunches a plan to trap suguNa with the help of washerman subbanna's (chadalavaaDa kutumba Rao) wife. But subbanna informs it to chandram. Chandram rescues suguNa. While kondayya comes and beats gaNapati. Finally kondayya and Saanta meet each other, while chandram and suguNa gets married and gaNapati and Sankaram go to jail.

Miscellaneous Information: This is the first film not only for the producer and director, but also for many of the artists, who were active members of #prajaa naaTya manDali# (the A.P section of IPTA), the cultural wing of the Communist Party of India. This film is considered to be a production of #prajaa naaTya manDali#. It is also the first film to show the Communist Flag on Telugu screen. Also, the film pleads for a separate state for the Telugus and effectively uses the already popular song: #chEyetti jaikoTTu telugODaa# (however in a slightly abridged form!) penned by vEmulapalli SriikRshNa. (One may also note that the last song: # aandhruDaa! lEvaraa! was deliberately 'inserted' in support of separate state.) Famous poet (and lyricist) Sri Sri gets introduced as #prajaakavi# in the film and his poem: #pratij~na# from #mahaaprasthaanam# is well picturized (again in a slightly abridged version). ghanTasaala's compositions of the above mentioned two songs and his rendition of #aa manasulOna# are a true delight to hear!

About the directorTateneni Prakash Rao (1924-1992): Prakash Rao born in kapilESwarapuram village in Krishna dist.. He was associated with CPI before the independence and associated with the radical movement in telugu. That is why he showed lot of prajasahiti songs in his first film. He joined with LV Prasad and directed LV Prasad in drohi where he is a assistant director for that film. He made films with Pratyagaatma under Prasad Arts Pictures.
The films he directed:
1952 - palleTooru
1953 - picchi pullayya
1954 - nirupEdalu, parivartana
1956 - jayam manadE, Mathar Kula Manikam, charaNadaasi, amaradeepam
1958 - Amardeep, Utama Puthran, Sitamgarh
1959 - Kanniraindha kanavan, Nalla theerupu, illarikam
1960 - College girl, maababu, Ellorun Innattu Mannar
1961 - Anbu Magan, Sasural
1962 - Kathirunda Kankal
1963 - Bahurani, Hamrah
1964 - Padakotti
1965 - Bahu beti
1966 - Suraj
1968 - Duniya, Izzat, Vaasna
1969 - Nannha Farista
1970 - Ghar Ghar ki kahani
1972 - Rivaaj
1973 - Minor Babu
1974 - Gali patalu
1975 - Samsaram
1976 - Pogarubottu
1977 - Chiranjeevi Rambabu
1978 - Ganga Bhavani, Hamara Sansar
1981 - Asha Jyothi
1983 - Engalalum Mudiyum
1988 - Kab tak chup rahungi

Acknowledgements : Thanks to Sri Srinivas ParachuriInformation of Tateneni prakash rao from Gautam
-by Sri

Interview with Jandhyala

This is Jandhyala's last interview (also first and only web interview). I met him in January and spoke to him for more then hour. He was very humble and down to earth. I requested a photo along with him. He said he liked me a lot and want to meet him again. As I was busy shuttling between Mumbai/ Bangalore / Hyderabad that never happed. So I lost the opportunity of taking his photograph...

I called on Thursday morning for an interview with him. He said he is in some pooja that day and asked me to come on Friday morning 10.00. so I landed at his house five minutes to ten. Two cute babies I met at the door are sahiti and sampanda who are playing with their puppy. The front room was an ordinary upper middle class hall and there are many trophies in the shelf of his success stories. The room was half occupied with the yesterday�s pooja. (he informed me later that he is big believer of puttaparthi sai baba and on Thursday was his pooja.) After initial hello's we started our interview. And here are the experts for you...

- By SRI

Sri : Hello, sir! Thanks for giving your time. Can we know your full name please?
Jandhyala : (laughs) it is not that I don't want to tell my name or that it's a secret; it's too lengthy! So, from the day I started writing stories, I am known by my surname alone. All my bank accounts are in the same name too! I wonder if I really remember my full name!
When were you introduced to films?
I went to Madras in 1974, I guess, to play a drama, upon getting an invitation from Kalaasaagar. That's when I had the opportunity of meeting Sree B. N. Reddy who made the films like malleeSwari. He saw my work on dramas and offered me to work on the film based on puNyabhoomI! kaLLu teru novel by Beena Devi. But unfortunately he was hospitalized soon after that and passed away eventually. I thought of going back to Vijayawada, as that film was stopped. Then producers Anandamohan and Hanuman Prasad offered me to work for their films. So, I wrote both the films but dEvuDu chEsina peLLi was released first. Then came peLLi kaani peLLi. After that, Viswanath offered me sirisirimuvva. Then I got offers from Raghavendra Rao and others. I wrote stories for few movies, screenplay for few more, and dialogues for a few others. I wrote for 200 films in those five years. In 1981, I directed my first film mudda mandaaram. From '81 to now, I completed 42 films. After 1981, I wrote another 150 films.

Sri : How does the experience in dramas help in films?
Jandhyala : It helps a lot. Either in creative side or in acting side, it helps a lot. You get a basic knowledge of acting in drama. Practical is always better then theory. Dramas get instantaneous reaction from the audience, and the actors will know what is right and what is wrong immediately. Similarly, a writer gets the message as to which scene the spectators like and which they do not. This is of a lot of help while writing the script and dialogues. So the stage always helps actors and technicians to improve before coming to the film industry. But basically, the off-stage or off-screen working is same for both.

Sri : Did you write any plays after coming to the industry?
Jandhyala : Yeah, I wrote some plays that were enacted by film artistes. I was too busy between 1976 and 1981. I used to write for four to five films a day, and thus was unable to write during that time. I had to attend discussions for story and dialogues with the crew. For example, while I was working for sirisirimuvva and aDavi raamuDu simultaneously, I used to have story discussions with Vishwanath in the morning, and with Raghavendra Rao in the evening, and a few others approached me some time during the day. I used to be too busy with all that. After I became a director, I got some leisure and I again took up writing dramas. Even now, I like to write dramas. Recently, the Chief Minister was impressed to watch a comedy play of mine, that was enacted by Kota Sreenivasa Rao and others.

Sri : You probably lost a few films as a writer, when you turned to direction, though you were the highest-paid and most-wanted writer during 1976-'81
Jandhyala : Yeah, I missed some films because of this, but I used to get more job satisfaction. As a director, I feel the whole project to be mine, and that I am completely responsible for the movie. A writer is only a small part of the film, but as a director, I am the whole and sole. I get completely satisfied when I direct a film, as I can convey to the filmgoers what all I have on my mind; I cannot do that when I am just the writer. I completely agree that writing is feasible monetarily, but it cannot buy satisfaction.

Sri : You said you worked with directors like Viswanath in the morning and Raghavendra Rao in the evening. But both have different way of thoughts and presentation. How did you mould yourself to their line of thought so quickly?
Jandhyala : I think both have one thing in common. Vishwanath is aesthetic director with a commercial touch, and Raghavendra Rao is a commercial director with an aesthetic sense. Raghavendra Rao too hasn't worked out vulgar comedy or shown nudity to attract the spectators. Both of the directors work in their own ways, but never walk in the clouds. I am happy with both the directors, and I learnt a lot while I worked with them. That's when I learnt to write a screenplay or a story for a film. They are my gurus.

Sri : You worked with young actors for your first two films as a director. What made you bring the change, instead of working with senior artistes?
Jandhyala : Yeah, I worked with youngsters that were fresh faces to the screen. Before that, senior heroes like NTR, ANR, Sobhan Babu etc. used to play young roles, but it appeared funny when they say something like "Mummy, I just passed B.A". There were not so many heroes then, like we now have - Chiranjeevi, Venkatesh, Nagarjuna, Pawan Kalyan, etc. I remember a movie in the late 1970's or 1980's where NTR says he just passed SSLC!! Then, the directors had no choice, and the artistes didn't have a choice too - they had to play all the roles! When I want to make a love story, I opted for young artistes to make it look suitable. These two films changed the trend. Both those films played well in the theaters and were commercial hits too.

Sri : I agree they were successful, but critics commented that you were spoiling the teenagers?
Jandhyala : When the film was made, Poornima was just 16, and I portrayed the same in the film. Why someone felt that way is because one was used to see Vani Sree or some other senior heroine doing the role. So, when the spectators suddenly saw someone who is actually 16, they could not digest the drastic change. It usually takes time for people to adjust to the reality. Even then, both the films were commercial hits that changed the trend, and immediately many love stories started with that wave. That all depends on the way the story is presented on the screen. In naalugu stambhaalaaTa, I tried to show how a young couple tried to solve their problem in their own way. It may not be a big deal now, but twenty years back, that was new to people.

Sri : naalugu stambhaalaaTa was somewhat a serious kind of movie. But later you changed your trend to the comedy films. Why is that?
Jandhyala : My first full-length comedy was Sreevaariki prEmalEkha. It became a huge hit without any element of seriousness in it. There is one particular trend in the industry. They brand people with certain image. If one wants to make a film on classical arts, one immediately thinks of Viswanath, and similarly, all offers I got after the success of Sreevaariki prEmalEkha were comedy films, and thus I ended up to be a comedy film director. If we do the same thing for long, the product will get stale, I knew it from the very beginning. Spectators need variety, and I thus knew that the comedy film trend would last only for some ten years, after which I need to come afresh with something else. So my trend of comedies continued with the films like renDu reLLu aaru and aha! naa peLLanTa etc. Relangi Narasimha Rao also came at the same period and he also did comedy films. Soon, the trend changed, and comedy had to be mixed with something else.

Sri : When you were in the spree of making comedy films, you suddenly made a beautiful film based on classical dance - aanandabhairavi. Everyone wondered where you hid all that aesthetic nature in you all those days!
Jandhyala : I wanted to direct a film like that since long. I wrote for films like SankaraabharaNam, saptapadi, saagarasangamam etc., which are all based on classical art forms, and thus wanted to direct one all by myself. Luckily I saw Kondamudi Sreeramamurhty's novel and I was lucky to find a producer who came forward to make that film with me. B. A. V. Saandilya, unlike others who came to me, brought to me the venture aanandabhairavi. Gireesh Karnad played the lead role and I feel honored to work with him. It ran a good run at the box office despite the image of comedy film director I donned; it fetched me some awards too. But there is another film that I liked among the serious films I made - I liked nelavanka a lot but the film was a flop. It was supposed to win some national awards, but did not, because of cheap politics played by some person in the film industry, which I am not happy to discuss. The drawback of the film was that the movie-watchers rejected the casting. They could not convince themselves to see J. V. Somayaajulu as a muslim, while the Sankara Saastri image still didn't leave him. It won some awards though.

Sri : aanandabhairavi has good song numbers like koluvaitivaa rangaSaayi... and chaitramu kusumaanjali that were also beautifully picturized with symbolic shots.
Jandhayala : Veturi has given very good lyrics. chaitramu kusumaanjali can be compared to the traditional keertana-s of the Carnatic classical standards. They helped the movie to be a hit.

Sri : What happened to annamayya project. Why it was shelved?
Jandhyala : I think there is some curse on that subject. Only Raghavendra Rao could complete the project. Even before I did, people like Sree Pullayya and Sree C. S. Rao tried it but were not successful. Later, Aatreya tried to make the subject into a film. Raghavendra Rao adopted the same script with some minor changes. We recorded almost 50 songs under the music direction of Ramesh Naidu, with noted singers like Asha Bhonsle, Mangalampalli Balamuralikrishna, S.P.B, Janaki, etc.; these songs are now available as CDs and records in Tirupati. B.A.V. Saandilya, who was the producer for the proposed movie, passed away and the project was stalled. J. K. Bhaaravi, who was the scriptwriter for Raghavendra Rao's project, was Aatreya's assistant at that time.

Sri : You always have one complete song on love in every film, which you shot differently from the other directors! Any special reasons?
Jandhyala : I like to do some songs differently. But now, people want movement in all songs; they don't want that feel now. They need some twenty plus dancers for songs. Even for annamaachaarya keertana, they need fast movements. They want every thing like those songs in MTV. I was the choreographer for most of my films. It is very rare that I hired a choreographer, unless I needed some special movements for the songs. But now it's all changed, because of changes in people's minds.

Sri : Any idea why your commercial films were flops though they had notable commercial artists?
Jandhayala : That is because I was unable to adapt to the commercial trend. Only seetaaraama kalyaNam with Balakrishna had a good run. Baabaai-abbaai was at least an average movie, because it was a love story. Other films like amarajeevi and chanTabbaai were flops.

Sri : What went wrong with amarajeevi?
Jandhyala : The first half was good, but something went wrong in the second half, probably the presentation was not clear. Success of a film has hundred reasons, but the failure usually has just one reason - bad story and/or presentation.

Sri : What went wrong with chanTabbaai? Is it the change in the climax of the novel that flopped the film?
Jandhyala : May be yes, but what we thought is that the title should have the hero's character. There our judgment failed. That could be a reason too. We know only when the audience rejected it, but by then, it is too late. Chiranjeevi himself agrees that it is one of his best comedy films. Sometimes we miss the road and go the wrong way.

Sri : Why is it that most of your films are based on novels?
Jandhyala : I worked with novels mostly because there is one advantage in that - I already have a tested formula and I know half of the dialogues. I worked mostly with Malladi's and Yandamuri's novels. I worked on works of other writers too, say, Aadivishnu etc. Some changes were necessary to transform them into movies. But still audience change according to the trend, publicity and all other factors will add for the filmgoers.

Sri : You gave stories to a lot of commercial hits like vETagaaDu, gharaanaa donga etc. But why is that you never attempted such films as a director?
Jandhayala : When I started my first film, Sree NTR also asked me the same question. When I went to give him the invitation card for the clapping of the film mudda mandaram, he was surprised and said, "If you would have asked me, I would have given you the dates to make a commercial film!" He congratulated me, but he wanted me to try to get a commercial image. I informed him that I want to experiment with all new faces from stage. He wished me best of luck. I don't want to go into a commercial image. That time I was inspired by Sree Bharatiraaja who gave a new feel to Tamil cinema by bringing the films to villages and made good films with all new star cast. At that time, we had only those five big heroes and I tried to break that trend and make something different. As I was close to Viswanath, his impressions also inspired me to some extent. He also did the same thing - working with not-so-popular artistes, and then working with most popular artists.

Sri : Do you have any ghostwriter?
Jandhyala : I never had any ghostwriters. If I have taken the story from some other writer then I used to discuss that with him for improvement. But if the storyline is mine, I never discussed with any one and I used to develop the story myself. I feel that I am not doing justice to my profession if I have a ghostwriter. If I have taken a comedy track, I used to give credit to them. I am not saying that having a ghostwriter is wrong - the idea differs from person to person.

Sri : What are your favorite films among those you worked for?
Jandhayala : I am happy with all the movies. Every movie has everything, it all depends on the way one looks at it. Among classical films, you can see SankaraabharaNam, saptapadi, aanandabhairavi, nelavanka etc. vETagaaDu and aDavi raamuDu among commercial films, Sreevaariki prEmalEkha, aha! naa peLLanTa, etc. in the comedy genre. aha! naa peLLanTa worked in good in B-, C-centers. Every film has it own reasons to be good and I cannot list them all, it'd be too big a list. Some of the films just ran because of the good dialogues, viz., Sreevaariki prEmalEkha, vETagaaDu etc. My timing was good then, as there were not as many writers at that time as there are now. Thus, I got opportunity to work with all types of directors, which helped me a lot. They all are my inspiration to become a director. I never worked as an assistant to any director.

Sri : Can you please tell us details of your family?
Jandhyala : My wife is Annapoorna, and I have twin daughters named Saahiti and Sampada.

Sri : Any message for our readers?
Jandhayala : We have many sources, but we never got a national award. I just want to ask our people to make some very good movies to get national recognition. And I suggest all readers to invite healthy movies and reject others. It may need not be a blockbuster but it should at least be an average runner so that that director tries to make another good film. I need to see Telugu film directors like the Malayalam film director Sree Aravindan. People used to say lot of good things about our old-timer directors like Sree K. V. Reddy and Sree Pullayya. Now, there is no one here to boast of. Even Ramanand Sagar worked with Sree NTR while doing Ramayana for TV. We do have good directors, but they fear that they cannot attract the filmgoers. I want to see that day when we get a national award.

His real name is Jandhyala Veera Venakata Durga Siva Subramanya Sastry, but I got to know that only after he died. After the interview I spend more than hour with him talking many off the record things. He informed me that cinema artist Annapoorna was his heroine in his drama's, where he played hero and that time her name was Uma. And how the nelavanka film box was mis-placed so that it will not reach delhi on time. I feel so bad when I heard he died and felt guilty of not keeping his interview because of my laziness. I know it is not an excuse. I think God needs some healthy entertainment and called him so soon as he is a noble soul, who knowingly or unknowingly never harmed any one.

Acknowledgements: Sri Malladi without whom I might have not met Sri Jandhayala and Sri Nachaki without his help this article might have not come out.

jIvitam (1950)

A.V.M.Productions (Madras)
jIvitam (1950)

Technical
Color
Black & White - 35MM
Release Date : 6th July 1950

Direction and Editing: M.V.Raman
Supervised by A.V.Meiyappan
Dialogues and lyrics: Toleti
Camera: T.Muttuswamy
Music: R .Sudarshanam and swarswathi stores orchestra
Singers: D.K.Pattamal, T.S.Bhagavathi,M.S.Rajeshwari,M.Satyanarayana
Dances: Hiralal

Cast:
T.R.Ramachandran .... Pati
C.H.Narayana rao .......Murthy
C.S.R.Anjaneyulu ........sivasinkaralingeshwara prasad
K.Doraswamy.........Vekatasubbiah
A.Narayana rao ....... Veeraswamy
Kamchi narasimha rao ..... Basawayya
K.V.Subba Rao ......Bank secretary
V.M.Elumalai .......Ayomayam
P.D.Sambandam ..... Seenu
Podala Krishna murthy ..... patrika sampadakudu
A.L.Narayana rao ......Bandivadu
lalitha and padmini ..... Dance artists
Kum.Vyjanthimala (debut) .....Mohini
S.varalaxmi .....varalaxmi
venkumaba ..... bangaramma
annapurna .....durgamma
baby vimala .....leela
Baby narayanan and baby meena
and sita,nagaratnam,rajalaxmi,tangamma etc.,

Songs:
Chakkaniana koyarajujuni ekkdaina choosara .. meerekkadiana choosara
Cast: Vyjyanthimala and others

Melukondi tellavare tellaga.. peda kallapu challi muggu pettaga
Cast: S.Varalaxmi

Anandamayena maa palleseema.. dana dharmala maa palleseema
Cast: S.Varalaxmi

Aasalani galilona kalispoyene devi
Cast : S.Varalaxmi

Gopala neeku neenu adutanoye.. nanda gopala neeku neenu
Cast:Vyjayanthimala

Edena maa desem, eda bharatadesam
Cast: madavapeddi satyam

Bhoomi dunnalo rayeta bhoomi dunnalo
Cast: padmini and lalitha

Priyamiana Raani mohini, ela aluka chalika, .. dada dada dada
Cast: T.Ramachandran and Vyjanthimala

Priyamaina raja naa pati, ela aluka chaluka � dada..dada.
Cast: Vyjanthimala and T.Ramachandran

Choopava pati tova.. deva.. choopava pati tova..
Cast: S.Varalaxmi

Mana masanasu manasu ekame, anandmai navalokam choodama
Cast: T.Ramachandran and Vyjanthimala

Tikku tikku takkuladi tapu tari adaga, okkasari choodara
Cast: Vyjanthimala (Pehilemoolakath hai song)

Andhra yuvaka neede jayamura.. jayamu jayamu
Cast: Vyjayanthimala.

Story:
This is the first film of vyjanthimalaMohini (vyjayanthimala) is the daughter of sivashankaralingeswara prasad(CSR) who is married to durgamma (annapurna) after mohin's mouther's death. Durgamma's brother is murthy (C.H.Narayana rao). Murthy wants to marry mohini. Mohini likes the writerings of ashok. Ashok is none other then the neighbor pati. But she is not aware of that. Murthy goes to the village where she sees varalaxmi (s.varalaxmi) and traps her. She promises her that she will come back from madras and release laxmi's family from the debt of basavayya and leaves the village. After coming to the madras he asks CSR for the hand of mohini. Mohini refuses him. She falls in love with pati after knowing that he is none other than ashok the writer. Varalaxmi became pregnant and comes to madras in search of murthy. She searches for him, before she finds him she delivers the boy in a hospital. She locates murthy and requests to accept her and the child. Murthy refuses as usual. She leaves the child in pati's car and goes into the sea for suicide. Pati leaves the child in a rickshaw and Murthy sees this and asks his aide to bring the child to pati and mohin's engagement venue. The engagement will get cancelled because of the child. Pati brought up the child, unsatisfied murthy makes some more plans to get pati out of job and succeeds in it. Varalaxmi is rescued by the fisherman and she again starts searching for the kid. And sees him in pati's place and feels happy. When the kid met with an accident, she comes forward and releaves the identity of her because kid needs the blood of mother. Murhty comes into the scene but still don't accepts the child. When pati tries to hit murthy it is varalaxmi who comes to his rescue. Seeing that muthy changes his ways and accepts varalaxmi as his wife.

Plus Points of the movie:

• Beautiful photography. Even though it is made in Black & white the village scenes and the other scenes are too good.


• Good melody songs. The song eedena bharatadesam.. eda bharatha desam is a big hit. Other songs like Andhra yuvatha jayamu needera and dada dada are also big hits.


• Acting of Ch.Narayana Rao is good. It is one of his favorite roles.
  

Funny things about this movie:

• T.ramachandran (hero) is shorter then the vyjayanthimala. He don't look like a hero. In fact Narayana rao looks like hero then of a villan.


• Hero and heroine introduction is usual like bumping their cars and some quarrel in the beginning and love afterwards. (may be trend setter to the later on movies).


• S.varalxmi searches for the hero six months without doing anything. How she survived with pregnancy for that long without eating or doing any work is a surprising factor.


• In second half we don't see much of narayana rao, where he gone, while she is pregnant and searching for her or what he is doing we don't know.


• An accountant in bank can maintain car in madras city. Once the job is gone he has to sell all the things.

About the movieThe movie first made in tamil, then in hindi and then made in telugu.

-by Sri

Interview with JD Chakravarthy

This was my first interview ... i can say it is the first interview of telugu actor on web...

Telugucinema.com proudly presents....... an exclusive INTERVIEW with Actor, Director, Producer CHAKRAVARTHY.

It was 8.30PM. I was busy with my friends as one of them came from India and the house is full of them, but I am waiting for the call from Vijay shekar who set up the meeting with charkravarti (JD). He called me and informed me the time, and we both agreed it for 9.00 PM. Sharp at 9.00 he called me and here are the experts of the phone interview. I was little nervous, as this was my first interview. But chakri made me feel comfortable giving me the full co-operation. It is really nice talking to him. natana kAdu varam, adi kRushi sadanala swayamvaram

Sri: Can you please tell me about your background, like what made you to come into the movies, what co-operation you got. What inspired you to come into the field etc.?
Chakri : That was a long story to make it short. I want to become an actor and so I became an actor.


Sri: Can you explain
Chakri: when I was in seventh class all my classmates were writing in a book what they want to become in future. Some wrote doctor, some wrote engineer and I am the only one who wrote charkravarti - actor. My sister saw that book and she showed it to my mother. I was afraid what they would say and my mother said in a very cool voice "Ok, you want to be an actor, good." She encouraged me a lot by buying me good comic books and told me to see the facial expressions of the characters and made me read them and know them completely by character. She is a great classical singer. Unfortunately I know nothing about singing. She is like a god to me. She never shouted at me. Other person in my life who influenced me is my sister. She is only one year elder to me. But she is the one who is always on my side. She thinks I am her first child. (Now I have a small nephew). She always used to encourage me. I thought of discontinuing tenth class and wanted to go to madras and try in movies, because I thought it would be four to five years minimum to get a decent break and if I start now I can save some time. But she made a convincing argument saying after you became a hero ,every body would say " hey , you know chakri did not even complete tenth class! So u should atleast complete tenth class." That trick she used again for my inter too. When I went for the screen test for Siva, I failed and came back home nearly crying, I told my sister that I am not fit for an actor and I failed miserably. She told me not to worryand if I was not selected that is a loss to the film industry but not to me. She was sure that I will get selected and I will be a good actor and get a lot of recognition. What ever I am today is because of her and I am really greatful to god for giving me such a wonderful sister and mother. Yesterday one of my friend was saying chakri do you know why I am not a film actor, because I don't have a sister like you have ,who encourages you in everything . I can't acknowledge enough of her. I could not say it in words.


Sri: How did you get the break if you failed in the screen test
Chakri: actually I went there to meet a friend and ramu garu thought that I came for the screen test. I was not prepared, but gave a try and failed. But ramugaru thought my communication was good and he felt I have a spark in my eyes and I was selected.


Sri: I didn't liked you in your first movie
Chakri: What (I think he was little surprised)

Sri: yeah! I thought who is this lanky guy, what does he have other than a good voice, and he is a bad guy.
Chakri: (laughs) I think this is good complement. Actually after shooting the movie ,at the time of re-recording illayarajagaru came out of the recording room and asked ramugaru, "who is this JD? I hate that guy." Ramugaru said that is good and it is a need for that character. That is the first and the best compliment I received. Then maheshji and paresh rawal also said the same thing when they watched the hindi version. Did u watch kabza?

Sri: yeah! It was by Mahesh Bhatt. Good movie. But it was a flopp.
Chakri:Paresh and Maheshji said that is because the heroine falls in love with the bad guy and that is the reason film was a flopp. People hated the bad guy and that is the success of the character. If you hate me in siva as an actor I am success.

Sri: How did you think you would get a break?
Chakri: (laughs) did you know what dreams I used to dream? I used to think Bharatiraja comes to me and asks me for a role , as he encourages a lot of new talent.

Sri: (laughs) you are not a heroine.
Chakri:(laughs) what I used to do is, used to walk in front of his house when he comes out of the house or goes in to the house, and I thought he will come and say "hey where were you man all these days. You are the person I am looking for. In front of you every one else is nothing." Which never come true (laughs)

Sri: (laugh)you mean to say like revati and radha?
Chakri:(laughs) similar to that

Sri: Did you get trained in acting before you came into movies?
Chakri:no. I saw lot of movies and read lot of comics and observed how they act and learned. natana kAdu varam, adi kRushi sadanala swayamvaram

Sri: What is your relationship with varma(ramu)garu?
Chakri: Ramugaru is has lot of confidence in me. I assisted him in movies like satya and I helped him in editing also. He is really a great person. I could not say what a good rapport we share. I can talk about that for the whole interview.

Sri: are you like family members
Chakri: yes you can say that

Sri: How you feel about working with other directors other than ramu garu?
Chakri:they have their own specialty. I love working with all directors. They are all good. As an actor I mould myself to the directors requirement.

Sri: you are giving a general statement. I asked about the specific directors you worked with.
Chakri: do you like carrots ?

Sri: (laughs) yes
Chakri: Why ?

Sri: because they are good for cleaning the teeth and good for eyes because of vitamin A
Chakri:the same way Raghavendara rao gari's songs and scene picturisation. I love working with him very much . What a beautiful picturisation. You should watch him while he shoots a film . If you are 40 year old he tells you in a 40-year-old behavior and if you are 20 year old he tells you in 20 year old manner (ayana patraloki parakaya pravesham chestaru). And vamsi taking, SVK Reddy's narration, it will be straight, no confusing, you don't feel like you are on the sets while working with them. It is really great.

Sri: I didn't like recent SVK's movies as I feel some of them are recycled .
Chakri:You should watch Premaku Velayara. It is good and I would like you to watch that and then tell me your frank opinion.

Sri: I heard that you all went to Vijayayatralu for that movie?
Chakri:No, I stopped them as I feel they are visuguyatralu

Sri: Who gave you the first break as a hero ?
Chakri:Tammareddygaru with the movie One by Two

Sri: I thought you are supposed to do the role of jagapathibabu in anthahpuram?
Chakri: I want to do all the movies in telugu. But it is not possible. But jagapahibabu also did a good job.

Sri: When is your marriage? Did you find your dream girl? Or you failed in love and is that the reason for your beard?
Chakri: (laughs) at present I am busy with lot of things. (Seriously) I give lot of respect to woman. I feel they are equal to us(men) . I almost work for 18 hours a day. I don't like her to wait for me at home all the time and when I come home she has to be ready for serving me , I don't like that . Now I am busy with production, direction,writing and acting not in that order but.. of late I am writing too. I cannot spare much time to my life partner and I don't want to neglect her and that is the reason I am not married yet.

Sri: I thought that love failure made you grow the beard.
Chakri: (laughs) recently a producer approched me and asked me to take the beard for his movie. I said for showing half of my face I am charging this much. If u want me to show full you have to pay me double, I am just kidding (laughs), there is nothing that sorts. I love sridevi , now she is married to boney kapoor there is no chance for me (laughs)

Sri: But I thought you are in love with Maheshwari? There are lot of rumors about this in the past.
Chakri: (laughs ) actually I was close with her because I thought she will recommend Me to sridevi, but it didn't work out. (laughs) nothing that sort of affair. We are all friends. I love all my heroines. As a matter of fact I love all girls. But they don't believe me. I say this to every girl I meet, but they don't believe me (laugh continuos)

Sri: what happened to your Hollywood movie?
Chakri: It's name is Inscrutable Americans. It is in collabaration with one of the studio's. I will give details about it soon. Actually I came for the work permits for the entire unit. Now I got them, so we will soon start the shooting.

Sri: Why are you doing an English movie
Chakri: what is your opinion on this and why you are asking this?

Sri: Hmm?.(I was hesitant)
Chakri: you can tell me anything

Sri: there is a rumor that as you don't have movies in Telugu you came here for English movies
Chakri: (laughs) you mean to say that if I can't survive in tollywood then I can do it in hollywood. There are many people who are willing to do a small role in tollywood for nothing. They are making a film with me as a hero, which is no joke.

Sri: Why did you join in a Drama School in USA. You are already an actor.
Chakri: when you completed your B.A or BE, why do you want to study M.A or M.E. because you want to study more. This is also like that I want to learn more and that is the reason I joined here and it helped me a lot.

Sri: What are your experiences in drama school?
Chakri: there the first thing they told me is 'ACTING IS NOT TO ACT, IT IS TO BEHAVE'. They first asked me to do gardening and then asked me to drink water. After I did that I asked them to show acting, they said you already did it. They explained if you need water and imagine you are in a place where you don't know their language how will you ask. I said I will show my thumb near to my mouth. Which is a universal language. Like that you need to do gardening, just behave like that no need to say it in a loud clear way. This is only initial lesson. The good books on acting are technique of acting by Stella alder and manwatching by another author (he mentioned it, but I forgot as I am just listening and doesn't have time to write it down) helped me a lot .

Sri: What made you to become producer
Chakri: straight answer. To earn more money. Before producing the movie I used to say, director is the captain of the ship, now I say producer is the owner of the ship (laughs)

Sri: I thought something else
Chakri: what did you think? No movies in the hand and that is the reason I am making movies myself (laughs). It is not true. I earned some money on movies and I want to earn more money so with my money earned on acting I invested on making the movies, which was backfired. But I will try again.

Sri: Are you saying about pape na pranam?
Chakri: yes. That is the stupidest title and I didn't like the title.

Sri: Then how come you gave a lakh for that title.
Chakri: actually I thought that nameless movie will arouse the curiosity in the audience and they will come to the theatres and it worked, until we kept the title. The co-producer wants to release in B and C centers and he felt that audience won't accept the movie without a title and opted for this title. Movie name should have some meaning.

Sri: I feel it is a copy of nick of time
Chakri: Yes it is inspired by that movie but not a copy.

Sri: You worked with five new directors. Don't you feel you are risking your career with the new directors and sometimes producing for them? Are you going in Ramu's and Nagarjuna's way.
Chakri: No I am not going like that. I feel comfortable working with them. I don't feel risky. Once they tell me the story, if I feel it is worth, then I readily do it.

Sri: You started with much fanfare mahatma gandhi autobiography and naandi? What happened to them? Will they be completed in near future?
Chakri: That question you should ask the producer. I am ready to do the film.(a small pause) actually the rushes came very good. The film is backed by two big producers. And suddenly they became busy with other projects and these projects were delayed. But ramu garu is showing his rush on who ever comes and recommend to give a break. I will definitely complete the film one-day. I don't know how or when .

Sri: I know you have a lot of respect to your co-stars. How do feel about the exposing of the heroine in the films ?
Chakri : In the films I produce I don't encourage this. I feel if they want to see the heroine body they can watch some magazines or books, which carry this sought of things, why on screen. I feel it is story and acting which is important to bring the audience to the Theatre. Not the vulgar dresses. About other producer's movies, I just do my part and I don't go into other details.

Sri: How is your bollywood experience?
Chakri:Are you talking about my staying in Bollywood?

Sri: Yes
Chakri: It is same to me as I worked with the same team earlier. I saw no difference, same gallies (tittlu), same faces, except one or two. I did a lot of work on it. I was assistant to ramugaru and also helped him in editing and music.

Sri: I liked the rain song music.
Chakri:Thanks. I really worked hard on the movie. Sometimes I feel how Ramugaru gave so much responsibility to me. He is has lot of confidence on me. And I am grateful to him for that.

Sri: Any new movies in bollywood.
Chakri: At present I am busy with hollywood and tollywood.

Sri: How about a multi-hero film?
Chakri: I did some with srikanth.

Sri: Why not others?
Chakri: I have no problem if the story demands. With srikanth he is very close friend, with others also I don't have a problem, if a good producer offer equal roles I am ready to do.

Sri: Why are you not working in sairam arts anymore?
Chakri: I like Chiranjivigaru very much. I was jumping with joy when I was offered the role . But there were date problem. I feel very bad about that. I really miss working with him. I may do it in furture.

Sri: Why do you imitate some actors
Chakri: hey ask a straight question

Sri: OK. Kamal
Chakri: Oh! He is a great actor. How do you feel.

Sri: I feel he over acts sometimes like in Nayakan when his wife-died etc is repetitive and some times too melodramatic.
Chakri: What about the one in Akalirajayam or Idi katha kadu

Sri: In those movies he was superb. I am talking about now.
Chakri: That is because they are very natural and in telugu movies we have less people who acts like in real life. As Kamalgaru is senoir to me you are saying I am imitating him, if he would have been junior you might have said he is imitating me. Yes he is very good and but I don't imitate him. We are trying parallel cinema acting in commercial movies.

Sri: Who are your favorite actors and actress:
Chakri: Chiranjeevi, SVR, Jayasudha and Sridevi - Telugu Kamalhasan, Sridevi - Tamil (how come she is again here) Amitabachan and Sridevi (wow she is coming here again)

Sri: favourite writers
Chakri: which ones Telugu or English

Sri: Telugu
Chakri: Vishwanatha satyanarayana's Veye padagalu did u read it.

Sri: it is good but it is in little grandikam
Chakri: (laughs) I read one padaga and has to read the remaining ones (laughs) I read it , it is good, then I like Mullapudi ranganayakamma and Yandamuri

Sri: Ranganayakamma her earlier ones I liked, Balipeetam or Chaduvukunna kamala etc. ok now in English?
Chakri: Ayanrand - Fountain head ( I might have read so manytimes, I lost the count, and it is very inspirational. Did you read it?

Sri: yeah I like Atlas shrugged also. She is very good.
Chakri: did You read Nishi?

Sri: Who is it I don't know. What he/she writes about.
Chakri: it is on philosophy

Sri: I read some on Jiddu krishna murthy garu and Ramana maharshi garu. But not the one you are mentioning.
Chakri: ok

Sri: what is your message to readers of Telugucinema.com
Chakri: I am not that big to give messages. But I will ask them to see my movies again and again like pape na pranam.

Sri: oh! It is already gone. Why don't you make another film nameless movie part-2
Chakri: (laughs) no I am asking them to see the same one so that I get some more money.(laughs) and now the message I want to give is to the parents. I am requesting them to encourage their Kids interested in acting, please doesn't discourage them. This is also a profession like any other. They need not be a doctor or engineer, they can be an actor.

Sri: ok sir, hope you have a good trip back to India and I wish to see you again. Thank you very much for the co-operation. I did not think you would be so friendly
Chakri: talking to you is my pleasure. I really enjoyed talking to you . You have a good day.

It was more than an hour and I have my friends waiting for me and he has a schedule to catch up so we said good-bye.

Interview with Roja

This interview was done in 1999 in the shooting of film "Samchalanam" directed by Tammareddy Bhardwaja:

Telugucinema.com proudly presents....... an exclusive INTERVIEW with ROJA.

It was a climax-shooting going on for Ravindra arts Sanchalanam move Starring Roja and Prakash Raj. I went and met Sri.Tammareddy Bharadwaja to take permission to interview Roja and Prakash Raj. He introduced me to Roja and Prakash raj. Prakash raj is playing the police officer in the film and Roja is playing the collector. She was in a very simple in a cotton sari and Prakash raj is in police dress. There was a strike going on but inspite of that bharadwaja is working with 500 extras for the climax with Ranganath and other artists.

Sri:tell me something about your family
Roja:Family.. (pause) normal one. A father, mother and two elder brothers.

Sri: tell me something different, everybody says I came from a happy Family etc., tell us about your childhood, some sweet memories..
Roja: I was a pampered kid in the house being the last one. My father was a sound engineer in Sarathi studious and my mother is a nursing college principal. They wanted me to become a doctor, but I became an actress that's all(laughs). But my brother completed his medicine

Sri: Really! That's great. Is he working anywhere now?
Roja: no he is looking after my dates

Sri: is it Kumara swamy?
Roja: Yes, he also produced two films.

Sri: you worked in lot of tamil and telugu films.
Roja : yeah I am still doing lot of tamil movies.

Sri: did you work in any other languages?
Roja: I did one malayalam movie and working now in two kannada movies and doing seven films in tamil

Sri: tell me the details about those movies?
Roja: kannada one with Vishnuvardhan titled as Premotsava under Dinesh babu's direction. The other one is, Bharatanari, a heroine oriented movie directed by Janardhan

Sri: is it our telugu bharatanari remake?
Roja no that movie was already dubbed

Sri: what about the Malayalam?
Roja : I did one film long back. But I am not feeling comfortable in that language so I left malayalam
Sri:why are you doing more tamil films than telugu?
Roja:because I have equal craze in tamil. Recently I had one superduper hit. Tamil version of Raja (she said it in tamil, but my tamil is poor and I was unable to catch it.). After that I am getting lot of characters and I am taking them.

Sri: is it the deglamarised role.
Roja:not deglamarised,the role soundarya played in Raja in telugu

Sri: Oh! I heard that you are considered to play the telugu version also.
Roja: it is all a game. (laughs)

Sri: I don't want to start a contraversy but I read it in a magazine that you were considered for that role as the tamil version is a big hit.
Roja:tamil version was a bigger hit than telugu. In telugu they made it commercial that is why it was not that of a big hit like in tamil

Sri: I know how much it collected as we get the weekly collection report in the net , so I know what a big hit it is. But the film people say you might have done a better job as you almost signed for the telugu version too.

Roja: Venkatesh prefers soundarya everytime. That's all (laughs)

Sri: heard that you did a deglamourised role in tamil.
Roja: It was before this film, long ago in Kadaval. I acted in that film without any makeup. Seeing that film director vikraman gave me the chance in the tamil version of Raja.

Sri: your first tamil film Chambarathi was a hit film (Chamanthi in Telugu)
Roja: it is a super duper hit film. Because of that craze I am still popular now.

Sri: one more controversy I heard is, in selvamani's movie only you get the preference over others and Ramba is giving statements on this. Saying that she doesn't want to work with you as she gets less preference.

Roja: everybody forgets their past. She acted as a second heroine in some of my films. She acted only in one song in bhairavadweepam. They want some publicity so they give that kind of statements.We all acted in so many films together. It is her personal opinion which is not true. she should not have started that topic. Actually in that selvamni's movie I come only in one song as a guest appearance. Somebody informed that my role is big, she blindly fell for it. It is her mistake. If I want to be in the heroine role, selvamani would gladly offer me that role rather than to ramba. That is the reason I stopped doing selvamani's movies. Because of selvamani I did that role, otherwise I might not have done it. She mistook about the whole episode. If she had seen the movie she might have realized it. I come only in flash back. If I want I might have replaced her. But it is not my character.

Sri: I read this in some papers.
Roja: I gave this statement. She came in my way. She did some small characters before this movie. Now as she got some market that doesn't mean that she should forget her past. If I want I might have replaced her. But it is not my mentality, I will do what I like, I am very straightforward. I don't go for fights. But if they comment unnecessarily I won't keep quite.

Sri: don't you feel you will get problems because of this attitude as you may lose the chances.
Roja:no problem. I am not bothered. But with this attitude I can live peacefully

Sri: you also gave a statement about Raja starcast recently that Venkatesh prefers Soundarya. Etc., with those statements are you not loosing your future films with him?
Roja: I don't have problem. They asked me why I am not doing that film. I heard that Venkatesh recommended Soundarya so I said that.

Sri:but no other heroine says all this. I think, because you are not behaving in a polished way you are losing the films.
Roja:I am not bothered with that type or kind of films. I got the films where I can show my talent, I don't like to do any chamchagiri for the roles. Audience know my talent, because of that I am still in the field. They may suppress me for three or four years, but in the fourth year somebody will make a film with me and if it is a hit then again I will raise as a star.that satisfaction I don't get from others. What ever I am today, I am on my own, not because of any recommendations or god fathers. I have not worked with any big directors like Bapu or Vishwanath, not many raghavendra's movies or dasari's movies, but purely because of my talent I am still in the field. And I am proud of it. Even in tamil I don't know personally mr.vikraman, or bharathi raja but they gave me chances. To tell you frankly selvamani benefited more from me than I benefited from him, (of course it don't really matter). These films came because of my talent and I am proud of that. If any one says any bad remark on me, I won't do the film with them again. I want the film life but I cannot sacrifice my character or personal life for it.

Sri:I recently attended one function where you are on the stage. The organizers keep on calling you as Smt.Roja. how do you feel about it?
Roja: that is a mistake done by the organizers. I am not bothered. As I am in love with the same person selvamani for more than eight years they are thinking I am married. Everybody knows about it.

Sri: your Favorite actress
Roja: Sridevi, kajol and juhi chawla.

Sri: what about the old time actresses?
Roja: Savitri and vanishree.

Sri:I think you worked with vanishree?
Roja:I worked with her in five films. From Sitaratnam gari abbayi to Pellam chatu mogudu. She is the one who gave me confidence as I am the newcomer at that time, I used to be nervous and used to feel why I came to the industry, but she used to tell me that I will become a big star.

Sri:your Sarpayagam is good. You are shot beautifully and acted well and decent. But the next film sitaratnam gariabbai, you did all valgour dialogues etc.,
Roja:but with sitaratnam gari abbayi I got craze and I became hit. It depends on the taste of individual. It was a hit even in villages. I just did whatever the director said.

Sri:With whom you are looking forward to work ?
Roja:Aamir khan. He is a wonderful actor.

Sri: what is your all-time favorite film?
Roja:Mother india. I watched it number of times but I still cry in the Second half. Nargis was simply great

Sri:it came in telugu with jamuna, shoban and krishnam raju.
Roja:I am not aware of that.

Sri:I watched it in some charity show. It was good.
Roja:I know it is acting, but still I feel it is real and I cry for Nargis.

Sri:Why did you act in a elderly role in Peddanayya.

Roja:it is a good character. Very innocent and it is on today's TV(she Is referring to ETV program Annimutyalu).

Sri:why you did Sultan.

Roja:that is the only role in female charecters in the film which has some scope to perform and that is the reason I opted for that. If I don't do it Somebody will do it. I will lose the picture.

Sri:Where do you want to get settled

Roja:Madras

Sri:what about the number one position?

Roja:I am not bothered. I am not in the rat race. This position will be there for an year or two. After that you have to be on your own talent and I believe in talent. Some of the top artists are not in the race like Sridevi or vijayashanthi.

Sri:what are your future films.

Roja:Samakkka Sarraka and editor mohan's film with new director which Is based on tamil super hit movie.

Sri:I think Sammaka Sarakka is under production for last two years.

Roja:it is almost complete

Sri:you don't have any formal training in films. So how you feel about it.

Roja:Intially I am not interested but after seeing the craze and fan following I opted for it.

Sri:what roles do you like

Roja:performance oriented.

Sri:do you have any dream role?

Roja:anything which are liked by audience.

Sri:what is your favorite place.

Roja:Araku, Ooty, Switzerland, Amsterdam

Sri:any plans to America

Roja:next year.

Sri:I think I should not ask you this question, how old are you?

Roja:(laughs) I have enough age which is required for the movies.

Sri:how much is it?

Roja:sixteen plus,plus,plus etc.,

Sri:is it for the last ten years.

Roja:yes

Sri:who inspired you to become artist.

Roja:Sridevi garu, she is all in one, glamour, performing artist etc

Sri:any plans going to north.

Roja:not interested, but I will do one before I settle down. I got offer in police brothers hindi. but I will do it soon if I get a good banner..

Sri: with Mithun?

Roja: definetly not with him.

Sri: any message to our readers?

Roja: I love them and I like them to love me in the same way. Not to change The parties for the new girls (laughs)

Sri: some personal questions. Being a successful heroine why did you become a producer and ran into debts?

Roja: every producer faces the same problem.

Sri: Then why did you become a producer?

Roja: it is not me. It is my brother who was interested in that. So he produced.

Sri: but you ran into debts

Roja: yes

Sri: technically Samaram is a good movie. But ..

Roja: because of time lap. My leg was fractured at that time.so the product became stale and I cannot act with the leg fracture, so they finally completed and released. And it bombed.

Sri: but I heard that Suman's role was chopped drastically and I think Raghu was also there in the movie

Roja: Suman is not the main lead in the movie.it is a heroine-oriented movie and we

informed it before starting it.

Sri: I was there in the theatre on the first day and there is a big hue and cry on this by his fans.

Roja: then they can make films with him now

Sri: but it was advertised as two hero's movie

Roja: why should I make films with them as hero's I might have requested Balakrishna or Chiranjeevi for it. As I wanted to make a heroine oriented one and as it was directed by Selvamani they want to work with him so they did it. Now the film flopped they talk like that. Everybody does it. Even I do the same thing. I paid them fully and they know the script fully and aware of their characters. (Laughs)

Sri: tell me about this current film

Roja: I am doing a collector role in this film. It is down to earth character. Working with Prakash Raj is challenging so I accepted it.

Sri: how did you felt about the award for Swarnakka?

Roja: I am very happy. I worked very hard. It is a re-entry to me in Telugu films after some gap. We struggled day and night in Bhadrachalam Forests for the film. It is not easy to work in that atmosphere. Only I know how I struggled. It is not like regular heroine type role who comes and dances and goes to her ac room. Working so hard also I don't have support from the hero's or from the producers, I am still struggling

Sri: I think that is because you are engaged (or in love ) with Selvamani for long time and they felt you may leave the industry anytime?

Roja: what is wrong in it? I don't need to beg for the roles. I will do Only when they come. I am not ready to do anything for the roles. I am happy I am engaged to the person like Selvamani. To me everything is important, film life as well as personal life. But for the sake of film life I need to sacrifice my values, I am not ready for it. I work hard. But I am not begging for the roles.

Sri: are you are aware of Internet

Roja: I am busy , don't have time for it.

By this time there are already three calls from outside and Prakash raj And Bharadhwaja are waiting for the lunch, so we had lunch togather and I left somewhat dazed way because of her frankness