Ramesh Varma, the man behind Oka Oorilo, Ride and Veera focuses more on the script anchoring a film. His next, Abbayitho Ammayi , a boy-meets-girl tale has Naga Shaurya and Palak Lalwani essaying the lead roles.
In fact, the director had planned Abbayitho Ammayi as Naga Shaurya’s launchpad. “The budget didn’t work out with him being a newcomer and the film was shelved when we were only a week away from shoot. Sai Korrapati later introduced him through Oohalu Gusagusalade .”
Now Abbayitho Ammayi is the most expensive film of the actor to date, he says.
Maestro connect
There’s a sudden cheer in his voice when we talk about Ilayaraja working for Abbayitho Ammayi . “More than freshness, we wanted someone to ensure a lot of depth and variety in the compositions.
Ilayaraja’s music doesn’t need any introduction in terms of love stories. Beyond Geethanjali and a rare Yeto Vellipoyindi Manasu , he hasn’t worked on them for a while and it was a privilege to have him in our team,” Varma exclaims.
Casting reasons
Explaining the reason he chose Palak for the film, “I was on the look-out for a face that would exude a next-door girl charm. I had auditioned nearly 20 of them for the part, but I felt the simplicity in her appearance was true to role of the female protagonist.”
It’s also a film where Mounaragam -fame Mohan is returning to Telugu cinema. “He was initially reluctant to play the role of a father but once I was done with the narration, there were no issues. He was terrific with his Telugu. The roles of Rao Ramesh and Mohan are as important as the lead actors,” he adds.
You’d also recognise that the makers have shown wooden dolls instead of the lead actors in the promotional posters. “It was purposely done to promote the film’s content as it is. The two wooden dolls have good significance in the film,” Varma convinces us. “The story is told from the perspective of a boy, but it’s a film I can assure all will equally enjoy,” he assures.
