Life comes full circle

Eagle-eyed observers of Telugu cinema might remember a 2001 film called Hanuman Junction. It had actors Arjun and Jagapathi Babu in lead roles and was one of that year’s biggest hits.

But perhaps the most stunning fact behind the movie was that the director of the movie was just 26 at the time. He soon moved to the Tamil film industry and today, top actor from Tollywood — Ram Charan — has expressed “keen interest” to star in the remake of his latest Tamil smash-hit, Thani Oruvan, a movie that has become so popular, there are agents rushing in from Bollywood too to buy its remake rights.

Director Mohan Raja then — son of famous Editor Mohan and brother of Tamil actor Jayam Ravi — is now the most sought-after name in the industry currently.He has lineage too.

“My father, Editor Mohan — the editor of over 100 films in all of the South’s languages and the permanent editor to director Sri Vittalacharya garu — has always had a belief, do sensible films but make doubly sure that they work commercially,” says Raja.

“He started out as the dubbing producer, dubbing Telugu to Tamil between 1979 to 1988, which includes Chiranjeevi’s Aarani Mantalu, Donga Mogudu, director T. Krishna’s Repati Pourulu, etc. It was during this time that I learnt my pucca Andhra Telugu and in 1989, my father shifted base to Andhra — to do Telugu films because the business was far more clearer in Andhra than Tamil Nadu. That’s how he became one of AP’s top producers.”

Raja then met the other luminaries of the industry here. “My father worked with Dasari Narayana Rao, Muthyala Subbiah, Sharath garu, Chiranjeevi garu through mega hits like Mamagaru, Bava Bavamaridhi, Hitler, Manasichi Choodu, Kshemanga Velli Laabanga Randi. His name became synonymous with good commercial films. All were remakes from Tamil or Malayalam, but he sat on the script for months together and transformed them into blockbusters.”

But why Raja’s move back to Tamil cinema? “I was 26 when Hanuman... became a hit. Around the same time, my younger brother Ravi wished to become a hero in the movies — he was born and brought up in Chennai and Appa wanted to launch him as a hero in Tamil with me helming the affairs. We then remade the Telugu blockbuster Jayam, directed by Teja, into Tamil with Ravi playing Nithiin’s role. The movie was a sleeper hit and Ravi got the moniker ‘Jayam’ to his name.

But now, with top Tollywood stars including Mahesh and Charan showing interest to work with Raja, does he feel life has come full circle? “I am waiting for the moment to go back to my forte. I feel nearly 12 years of vacuum has vanished,” Raja says with a laugh.

He continues, “Both Mahesh Babu and Ram Charan have watched Thani Oruvan. I met Charan later and he said, ‘It looks like you have put all your 15 years of experience into one film’.”

Mahesh Babu, meanwhile, sent a message congratulating Ravi. “He said he wanted to collaborate for a movie with me. It only makes me feel that they are making me a ‘star director’ with their genuine compliments.”