Some raised eyebrows when he announced his maiden full-length feature film last year, given that ad jingles, corporate films and documentaries were his forte. However, as rushes of Parampara were shown to a select few, doubts appear to evaporate giving way instead to admiration.
Writer-director-producer Madhu Mahankali is all set to release Parampara soon. Starring Amani and Naresh as parents of a young boy, and veteran Raavi Kondala Rao as the grandfather, the movie is being edited with an eye on film festivals.
“I worked on the script for two years before I started canning it,” the soft-spoken Mahankali says. His hands are busy – on the keyboard and the mouse, trimming content.
“The message is how we miss out on following tradition, and how it sometimes gets too late for mistakes to be corrected,” he sums up the 105 minute-long film.
A sneak peak into the movie at Mahankali’s makeshift studio one evening reveals a very sobre story of how the son and dad communicate with each other, how the son keeps remembering his childhood, with the narrative supporting this camera movement, making viewers relate it to their own lives. Interestingly, ace shuttler Pullela Gopichand appears in a cameo in the movie.
Riding high on expectations
Post Eerojullo , its director Maruthi, who was involved with films like Bus Stop and Prema Katha Chitram , became a known name in the highly-competitive Telugu film industry. Given the collections that these three films have registered, the man has been dubbed by some in the industry as the ‘King of Small Cinema’.
The ‘king’ now has his fingers crossed, and for good reason too. His latest film Kotha Janta , produced by Bunny Vaas on the Geeta Arts banner, has drawn enough attention. All set to hit the screens on May 1, it stars Allu Sirish in his debut, cast opposite Regina, who has worked in films like SMS and Routine Love Story .
Interestingly, director Maruthi and music director Jeevan Babu alias JB have teamed up for the fourth time in an industry where people place a lot of belief in ‘combinations’.
