A dream comes true

‘Ladies & Gentlemen’ director Manjunath speaks about his struggling phase, his stint as a ghost writer, off beat script and Madhura Sreedhar

Filmmaker Manjunath is on cloud nine. Why wouldn’t he be when his debut directorial flick ‘Ladies & Gentlemen’ has managed to strike a chord with audiences and is running to decent crowds. “It is an incredible feeling. I knew that it would click but not to this level. The response I have got is amazing,” shares the elated director.

But to reach here, just like many film aspirants, Manjunath has had his share of struggles. “I had tried for a long time for an opportunity as an assistant director but things didn’t work out. Over a period of time, I somehow managed to work under Rasool as an assistant cameraman for ‘Nuvvu Nenu’,” he recalls. The tough period, however, wasn’t over yet. “It wasn’t a cake walk. I had so much free time and I used that to make myself adept at screenplay writing. And that helped me to prove my mettle when I worked with the likes of Gopi Mohan and Dasarath,” he says.

“I had written 90 per cent of dialogues and screenplay for a film but I didn’t receive the due credit. But that didn’t stop me and I left that behind and moved on.”

People who knew him well including his wife, Manjunath says, were surprised at the story of ‘Ladies & Gentlemen’. “I am generally a very silent person and keep a lot to myself. Everyone thought I would make a soft, feel good movie. But I surprised them with my choice of subject. I wanted to prove that I can handle everything – love, emotions, action, crime, comedy – and that’s why I chose the script which had everything sprinkled in it.”

But one wonders if so many years in the industry didn’t make him want to debut with a top notch actor? “Yes,” he says. “That’s what I had in mind. But when I approached an actor (he refused to divulge the name, of course), he said that he liked the subject but was hesitant to give me a chance as I had no great experience,” he recollects. But now that he has proved himself, the confident director is going back to the same actor with another script. “He sent me a congratulatory message and asked me to show him my film. I am hoping that things will work out this time around,” he says with joy in his voice.

As for his producer Madhura Sreedhar, he says, “At a stage when I didn’t know what to do, I happened to meet him. I worked as his assistant director for ‘Back Bench Student’. He casually said that once the project is over he would give me a chance. I had heard many such promises during my career and felt this would be another one. But then when he asked me if I had a script ready, I realised he was serious. And then things worked out.”

By: Pranita Jonnalagedda