“ Sahasam could have been better at the box office, though it was not a losing proposition,” says director Chandrasekhar Yeleti as he wraps up Manamantha. Tentatively scheduled to release this month-end, the film has been shot in Telugu and Malayalam and dubbed in Tamil. The director who is known for his fresh and interesting execution of stories surprised all by casting an actor Telugu industry would not have normally thought of – Mohanlal. He got Mohan Lal to do a Telugu film after 23 years. He observes, “This was the most difficult film for me. It looked very simple while I was writing but it was quite emotionally draining. Four stories with four emotions. Switching emotions on and off was not easy. It was also time consuming as I write the story and screenplay myself. All I want is a commercial hit.”
Manamantha according to the auteur is different from other storiesThe director believes that cinema needs to have a balance between art and business. “If the producer is not able to make money on this how will he make his next film? However, we still need to get confidence to make experimental films after Aithe and Anukokunda Oka Roju got multiplex releases.” Yeleti never had a doubt that the story of Manamantha would appeal to audience of a different language.
When he approached Mohan Lal with the story , the actor cautioned the director about his non-availability, he said he was busy for the next eight months. He adds, “I told him to first listen to the story. He connected with it and immediately and said okay. He was very interested in the script, and oversaw Vismayam (the Malayalam version). Mahesh Shankar of Prayanam did the music, Madan Karkey wrote the Tamil lyrics and Madhu, a professor from Kerala that Mohan Lal recommended wrote the Malayalam lyrics. Mohan Lal himself took personal care. Gautami was chosen for an important role. Since it is an emotional film, Mohan Lal is determined to do his own Telugu dubbing. He is learning the language and working hard on it.”
While debating if it was necessary that the stories meet at a point and give out a message or if they can be left as independent stories, Yeleti says, “No one comes to see four films…they come to see one film, how it starts and ends. The experience won’t be fulfilling if you have independent stories on screen. If the film lacks good performance I can’t cover it with technique..it needed all of them to act well.”
Adds Yeleti, “I am very confident about my Malayalam debut. We already have a star with a massive reach. There are other accomplished actors in Malayalam as well. Gautami is conversant with Malayalam. Premam
All the locations have been in Hyderabad but mostly our priority has been to capture emotions.”
