Call it a story of the decade or simply put it to the current rage among filmmakers to make bio-pics. But whatever, one thing is sure - The main protagonist who played a vital role in the formation of India’s youngest, the 29th State is making waves in the film industry.
The life and struggle of Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao is to be made into a film. While the story of this film will per se revolve around Mr. Rao’s life and from his perspective of the struggle, the Telangana agitation will be an integral component, says ‘Madhura’ Sreedhar Reddy of ‘Sneha Geetham’ fame, who will wield the megaphone. It will be produced by Raj Kandukuri on his home banner Dharmapada Creations that made the recent hit film ‘Pelli Choopulu’.
“As a boy, I had just heard tales about the Telangana struggle and more recently, in the past decade and a half, I found the challenges faced by Mr. Rao were much like what legends like Mahatma Gandhi, Nelson Mandela and Martin Luther King overcame in their lives. It was then that I started researching and getting some pre-production logistics in place,” said the techie-turned-filmmaker who also runs a music company.
“The spark to make a film on Mr. Rao actually came from a young Chinese researcher and history scholar who came to India last year. She came to me for some help and it was then that I took the decision. As of now, the shooting will start on June 2, 2017, the day Telangana was born and it will hit the screens on February 17, 2018, coinciding with Mr. Rao’s birthday. This is all I have to say for the moment,” Mr. Reddy explained.
“It did not matter to Mr. Rao as to who said what and who thought what, about him. He simply went ahead with the struggle. This is the history we witnessed and we are now in a new State. After hearing tales told by my father who was a part of the 1969 agitation and co-relating it with incidents in the current struggle, the director in me did not allow me to sleep. And that is how I went ahead with planning this project,” said Mr. Sreedhar Reddy, when prodded to reveal a bit more.
After listening to the tales narrated by my father who was part of the Telangana agitation in 1969 and watching the incidents of current time, the director in me gave sleepless nights, he said, signing off. Casting work is on but for now, ‘mum’s the word’ !
Interestingly, maverick film maker Ram Gopal Verma tweeted on Friday that he too wanted to make a film on the same subject.
