Y.Sunita Chowdhary
M S Raju is known for his passion for cinema. He watches two or three films a day and the discussions on his dining table are always on cinema. His associate directors and assistants vouch for the fact that there isn’t another topic that is spoken at the office other than cinema. Raju on his part says he learnt a few things and was ‘educated’ by short film makers and his associate directors. His greatest quality is that he always bounces back when he falls at the box office. “We all go into difficult times, Rama was in exile for 14 years and I too was in a bad period for that amount of time. We are incomparable to the almighty but what I am trying to say is that being a God, he too couldn’t escape the problems. We are mere mortals. We should keep trying till we die, we are a failure only when we don’t try, says the director.
Director Kodi Ramakrishna got him involved in cinema when the former got busy. Raju at that time was young, he was 25, took the initiative of involving in every aspect. “Media said I had a ‘gula’ for direction. Whatever term you use, I admit I have a passion and madness for direction. Shot by shot, dialogue, music and whatever it was, I was there but it escaped my notice that my bad time started. I am not blaming time. My ideas may be very wrong. Slowly I was getting outdated and so was my knowledge of cinema. Also, I could have been repeating myself. I made the best music films, love stories and action films like Varsham and Okkadu and graphic films like Devi and Deviputrudu. Yedho tiyyalani teesesaanu to supersede this and that was Pournami, I couldn’t make a link with the audiences. Deviputrudu and Pournami were made on a huge scale, it was an impetuous decision. I also made Aata and Maska, they were reasonable films but not MS Raju films,” he further says.
Shyam Prasad Reddy and MS Raju were known for changing the shape of the film at the edit table. Slowly when the former learnt he was losing the judgement of the films, he left producing cinema and Raju continued. “It sounds as if I am denouncing the contribution of the director. But all I can say I started my innings again. I am returning after an interval,” he quips. Has M S Raju directed a ‘bhootu’ cinema? “See the film on 18 Dec on the app and call me and tell me I made a blunder and I will stop doing films. I want you to see the film and talk. Dirty Hari is my original story. If you make a film like Dirty Hari, you need to tell people how dirty he is and what are the repercussions of his act. Every man has an animal instinct. When you open a window and when you see an opposite sex..will you watch or shut your eyes? If someone is there with you, out of shyness we turn away but later after this man leaves, you return to gaze at the woman again. This instinct is prevalent in mass as well as class. It isn’t wrong to watch beauty but when you cross limits, therein lies the problem. I feel I should get an award for what I have done. We have given a message and my next trailer will show the consequences of such bad behaviour. It is not going to be a Somayajulu film. It is a very contemporary story and I am aware people are prejudiced.”
He adds, “If my son or daughter venture out, I tell them to be careful because we are concerned. Next, you all know how much sensuality is crossing limits and how directors place cameras and what kind of shots they capture. This isn’t even half of that. We aren’t attracting people, we are mentally preparing you that Hari’s mind is dirty. If we don’t do that, people will get a rude shock. Now that the promos are out, they will go with curiosity. I watch every movie, listen to all kinds of music. It is not easy to convince the audience by showing obscenity, there is so much obscenity available on the internet. People have seen all that, there is a lot more vulgarity and depravity.
Anthakantey yemi chustaaru? I am telling you a story. I made all kinds of films, this is another genre. Aa sringaram mithimeerithey, be it boy or girl what is the result? This is the plot and I made it for the theatre. Because of Covid, I had to wait for nine months. My partner has been very cooperative and is my solid support system here and those who saw the film were astonished. They said they expected something and they saw something else. This something else is the real story. The movie will stream on Friday Movies App on December 18. One has to give a missed call to 7997666666 in order to download the app. It is produced by Guduru Satish Babu and Guduru Sai Puneeth. Shravan Reddy, Simrat Kaur and Ruhani Sharma play the lead.”
