Tollywood’s seeing a surge in young directors armed with fresh concepts. Ko Ve Ra (Konda Venkata Rajendra) is one such young filmmaker who’s coming up with a movie titled U, which revolves around the underworld.
Rajendra gave up his life as a software professional to get into cinema. “Director Shankar’s films inspired me to join the film industry,” he reveals. Before taking baby steps in the world of cinema, he approached director Mahadev, an associate of Rajamouli, who in turn introduced him to his father Vijayendra Prasad. “That’s when I started participating in story discussions. I’ve been working with him since five years and have learnt so much,” says the filmmaker, adding, “During this period, I met many producers and actors and narrated my story to them. Though they were all impressed, somehow the projects never started,” he says.
Rajendra was even supposed to direct Naara Rohith and Sri Vishnu in Nala Damayanthi. The film was launched and even a few days of shooting took place, but the film was ultimately shelved.
Despite all these disappointments, Rajendra’s passion for cinema has kept him going. “I finally decided to start out on my own and I wrote my own script,” says Rajendra about starting Ko Ve Ra Productions.
Talking about the film, he says, “It explores how much money is running through the underworld. While our budgets are audited by top auditing companies, the money being circulated in the underworld is completely unaccounted for. I touch a few points on this subject,” adding that his film revolves around a bomb blast and the victim’s sibling taking revenge on the underworld.
Rajendra is confident about his film will do well. “I have already sold my film’s Hindi rights for a good price. I am planning to release it in August,” he says.
Who is the lead actor in this film?
“Apart from directing, writing and producing, I am playing the lead role in the film too,” he says, making it a kind of record in Telugu cinema!
HT07
