Manamantha was my most challenging project: Yeleti

In the industry for the past 13 years, it’s pretty surprising to note that filmmaker Chandrasekhar Yeleti’s CV boasts of only six films. But the soft-spoken director is pretty nonchalant about it. “The journey has been great and I have learnt a lot over the years. I do take long time to embark on a new project. But there’s no regret that I have made only a few films because I take my own sweet to complete a script,” he exults, admitting that recently a couple of his scripts couldn’t take off after he invested considerable time on them.

Yeleti is known for making experimental films and ‘Manamantha’, his ready-to-release film, is a family drama, a genre he never touched hitherto. By his own admission, he describes, “True! It (family drama) is an untapped genre for me. I believe people can easily connect to a narration that has emotions, so I decided to make a family drama. ‘Manamantha’ (‘Vismayam’ in Malayalam) narrates the lives of middle-class people, their apprehensions and vulnerabilities. It is told from the point of view of four people of different age groups -- childhood, youth and adulthood.

How their lives are interconnected is intriguingly depicted. But it was challenging bringing out the human emotions; the project is my toughest one till date.” The failure of his earlier project ‘Sahasam’ did deter him but not the one to get bogged down by failures, he has gone back to the drawing board and came up with a script which got thumbs up from the usually picky Mohanlal. But why the celebrated Malayalam actor? “While writing the script itself I decided to make the film as bilingual. So I was looking for a hero who has a strong recall value.

Moreover, since Mohanalal is a superstar, the reach is huge. But initially he was a bit apprehensive to do the film. Only after he heard the narration, he green-signalled it,” he recalls, adding, “Working with him was amazing and it was a learning experience. He himself dubbed for his lines in Telugu and I was surprised to see his dedication; no wonder he is such a big superstar.” ‘Manamantha’, produced by Sai Korrapati, also marks the return of yesteryear diva Gauthami to Tollywood. “We needed a middle-class woman who looks strong and elegant. It is an anchor role, so she was my first choice and she agreed to do it straightaway after the narration.”