Quest for the unexpected

In his debut film ‘Kartikeya’, director Chandu Mondeti attempts to deliver thrills and suspense through a temple story

Director Chandu Mondeti on the sets

In a few weeks from now, Chandu Mondeti will be a familiar name to Telugu movie goers. The director’s debut film Karthikeya is releasing and the trailer has already caught the people’s attention.

An engineering graduate from Chennai, the movie buff remembers he was deprived of watching them when he lived in Chennaiand staring in awe at Telugu movie posters whenever he came to Hyderabad.

Chandu worked with director Sudheer (

Swami Ra Ra ) and actor Nikhil for a couple of projects and it was the success of

Swami Ra Ra that prompted Nikhil to work with Chandu. He resolved to direct after seeing the success of

Arya . “The reception that Sukumar’s film got made me think. I felt there has to be some small difference; some sort of freshness, at least people should find a five minute episode in the story to be novel.”

Speaking of stories, he says, “Sometimes we come across topics that arouse our curiosity levels, for instance the MH370 or the burglary at the Padmanabha Swamy temple. Even if the basic information is known we should work towards giving something extra, something unexpected or unknown, on the subject,” he says. Chandu read a lot about the temple in Kerala and the Naga Bandham (the final door) which leads to the treasury but opens only upon the uttering of a secret mantra that’s passed on by a temple priest to his successor at the time of his death. This inspired his debut subject.

The story might not be mounted on a grand scale, but it will retain the thrill, suspense and freshness, he says. “There is a lot detailing yet it looks simple. It is about a young man who goes to find out what happens inside a temple.”

Talking of the cast, he reveals, “I was apprehensive of taking Swati as this would be immediately after

Swami Ra Ra and would have the same poster background of the temple. That Swati speaks Telugu became a plus point for the film. We asked Nikhil to put on weight to look different.”

Chandu narrates how Karthikeya was shot during the monsoon at Araku in areas above the sea level. “With a crew of 200 we shot in difficult conditions. Luckily, it didn’t rain in the areas we didn’t want. Then one day we wanted rain and were wondering what to do when it suddenly started pouring. The only difficult aspect was scouting for apt locations. We wanted a temple, a traveller’s bungalow and a medical camp area.”

He adds, “I travelled extensively and finally settled for Wadeyarpalem a village 50 km away from Kumbhakonam and spotted a 950-year-old Siva temple. We found a bungalow in Vijayanagaram. I enjoyed the whole process; the struggle seemed to vanish once I saw the rushes.”