Chitchat with MS Raju About Aata

After having dream run with successive successes, quality filmmaker MS Raju got an upset in the form of Pournami last year. He is doing Aata with lot of vengeance and wants to prove that Pournami was just an aberration. His film Aata with Siddhardh and Ileana is releasing with 150 prints on 9 May. Here are the excerpts from a small chitchat.

What went wrong with your earlier film Pournami?
I think that fault lies with the script. I learnt a lesson from Pournami. However I don’t regret making it. I don’t mind making experimenting films like Devi Putrudu and Pournami once in a while.

What is the status of Aata film?
We almost completed the postproduction activities. We are trying our best to release the film on 9 May. The first copy will be ready in 2-3 days.

What is the storyline of the film Aata?
This is the most romantic and entertaining film I had ever done. It is about a boy who is mad about films. Inspired by the hero in films, he wants to replicate the same in the real life. Hence there is a social cause associated with it though we dealt the entire film with entertainment and romance. The characters in this film are going to be very consistent.

Tell us about the artists?
This film suit’s the sweet image of Siddhardh and charming looks of Ileana. Siddhardh considers me as a Godfather and I treat him like a son. Hence I worked more passionately for this film as it has Siddhardh whom I consider as my son. Heroine character in this film has an important role to play just like female leads in my earlier films. Sunil has an important and very entertaining character. The villain role in this film deserves to be done by any veteran Telugu villain. But we preferred a new guy called Munna for this role.

What is the reason behind not having proper gap between audio (27 April) and the movie (9 May) release?
We are in hurry as we produced this film in a very few number of days compared to my earlier films. It is the biggest audio in the recent times. The picturization of the songs is going to enhance it more.

You seem to have finished this film in minimum time?
Yes. We did take around 9 to 11 months to produce our earlier films. But this time we did it in 5 and half months. The movie length is also less compared to my earlier films. The movie length is 12,500 ft compared to my earlier films’ length of 14,500 ft. The shooting went on smoothly. We wrapped the film up in 105 working days. There is no wastage in this film.

What kind of response Aata film will generate?
My Okkadu film created history and it became a trendsetter like Shiva. The success of Aata will prompt the other filmmakers to follow it. There is fast tempo in story telling. The whole film will be of 2 and half hour duration including interval.

What is the reason for changing the heroine of Aata from Mamatha Mohan Das to Ileana?
We considered Mamatha Mohandas for a story given by Haresh Shankar. That story happens in Australia. But we changed the script at the last moment. I prepared this story and script long back. And for the heroine role in this script demands somebody like Ileana. There are certain scenes in this film which are inspired by real incidents. Paruchuri Gopala Krishna gave a compliment after watching Ileana in this film saying that songs exploited Ileana the way K Raghavendra Rao does to his heroines.

What are you going to announce on your birthday (10 May) this year?
Last year, I was little upset because of Pournami. I am sure that this time I will be in a happy mood because of Aata. I have two projects in my hand. One is Hare Rama Hare Krishna which will go on floors in October/November when both Mahesh Babu and Trivikram will be available. Script is ready for that film. Another film is going to be Telugu remake of a Kannada Blockbuster Mungara Male. We will do pooja without announcing the names of hero and director. This film will go to floors in June.

There are rumors that you will direct that film and your son Sumanth Ashwin will make his debut as hero?
These are just rumors. Sumanth Ashwin will surely act in films. But I am not sure when he is going to make his debut.

How many prints it Aata releasing with?
I am releasing the film on my own for most of the areas. This film will be releasing with 150 prints. On personal note, Paruchuri brothers felt that Aata film is better than NVNV. It will create the feel that hindi Bobby created when it was released.