I thought of quitting films

Filmmaker Ramaraju opens about taking a break, approaching Samantha, Regina for ‘Oka Manasu,’ finalising Niharika and switching genres

The 2013 critically acclaimed Ramaraju directed romantic drama ‘Mallelatheeramlo’, after carrying a good pre-release buzz, disappeared silently post release, completely slipping under the radar. And now after three years, the director is back with another romantic tale, ‘Oka Manasu’, starring Naga Shourya and Niharika Konidela. “Some producers did approach me to make a film after ‘Mallelatheeramlo’ but I felt taking a gap of a year.

During this period, I contemplated whether to make films or not. I was like, ‘Why should I go through the pain again?’ Guess those thoughts stemmed from the fact that I took a break,” he muses, adding that a reputed media house asked him to think otherwise. “The management of the media house assured me that they will deliver the product in a way it ought to be, prompting me to heed to them. It was only after we locked a script that filmmaker Madhura Sreedhar joined us to partner.”

He admits that ‘Mallelatheeramlo’ was delivered in a poor way. “It was meant for a limited audience but it wasn’t exhibited to them; instead it was played in B and C centres, causing the damage.” Ramaraju, after giving final touches to ‘Oka Manasu’ script, had to wait for a year to get the right casting. The likes of Samantha and Regina were narrated the story. “Samantha liked the story but wanted us to wait till June 2016 as her diary was full. Regina too endorsed the script but only had five days from a month to give us.

Since ‘Oka Manasu’ was a script, which required us to shoot at a stretch, we had to go back to the drawing board again and continue with our search all over again. We started searching for new faces this time around, going through a number of proposals. One fine day Sreedhar rang me up and asked whether I can cast Niharika as Sandhya (the heroine’s part). I was aware that she was a popular face on TV but I never saw her work. I told Sreedhar I‘d get back to him, before going through her stills on Google. The moment I saw her I discovered Sandhya in her.

I later called Sreedhar and said I’m perfectly ok with her. “We were sure from the very beginning that if we get a good girl to play Sandhya, the film will click. Later I met Niharika for a formal introduction and after two days, I pitched the script to her. It was an instant yes from her end,” he reminisces fondly.

As the film is a love story, Ramaraju had conceived many romantic scenes. He says that neither Niharika nor did her dad Naga Babu have any apprehensions about them. “She said she’s fine because it’s a film at the end of the day, while Naga Babu, appreciating the script, said that he trusts his daughter’s judgment more than his. He only wanted me to shoot well.”

Nonetheless, the director admits to have toned down some romantic scenes. “Since Niha (Niharika) comes from a big background and carries a certain reputation I had to tone down some amount of romance,” he confides, promising that ‘Oka Manasu’ is a pure romantic film and is narrated in a manner that even a 60-year-old, after watching it, will turn 20. “It’s an everyday love story.

Either it would have happened to you or you must have heard it from someone else. Most love stories from Tollywood are told in a glamorous form but I have dealt ‘Oka Manasu’ in a very realistic way. That way it will be exclusive. There’s a political angle to it too but it will only act as the catalyst.”

Ramaraju has high praise for Niharika, describing her as a natural artiste and a director’s delight. “I know it runs in the family but it was more than that… she is a quick learner and has great memory power. All her shots were okayed in single take; a second take was only called for when she insisted,” he rhapsodises.

He assures that unlike ‘Mallelatheeramlo’, which was found to be static, ‘Oka Manasu’ is not. “We shot the film in Visakhapatnam, Araku, Vizianagaram and Hyderabad. It has more cinematic expression with a bigger time span and with multiple supporting characters. The running time is also short; it’s only two hours and 10 minutes,” he avers.

So, will he be confining himself making only romantic dramas or is he ready to hop genres? That draws a laugh as he points out that romance will be integral to his films as it his strength. “I want to make commercially viable love stories. There are too many love stories out there to be told… romance is the biggest selling point because people are romantic. Also, there are not many romantic filmmakers out here; I want to fill that void,” he ends.

By Nagaraj Goud