A dark romantic comedy, the film features Rao's son Tej Bommadevara as the protagonist, while Rishika Lokre plays the female lead.
Bommadevara Ramachandra Rao. (Supplied)
It’s never too late to pursue your dreams. For 60-year-old Bommadevara Ramachandra Rao, it was an arduous task of close to 20 years when Rao first started his journey in Tollywood as a makeup artist.
Speaking about the initial hiccups, Rao said, “During the time of Manmadhudu (2002), I told Akkineni Nagarjuna Garu that I wanted to become a director. He politely said that it is difficult to become a director because of my mentality and, instead, he advised me to become a film producer if I had money.”
He added, “During a conversation with Anushka Shetty on the sets of Super in 2005, I told her that she would become a big star down the line. I then asked her, ‘Could you spare dates if I make a film in the future?’. It took two decades to realise my directorial dream.”
Rao has directed as well as produced Madhave Madhusudana, which is coming to theatres on 24 November. A dark romantic comedy, the film features Rao’s son Tej Bommadevara as the protagonist, while Rishika Lokre plays the female lead.
So, what is the inspiration behind the film? “I was waiting at Kacheguda railway station for Nagarjuna Garu during the time of his film Azad in early 2000 when some bystander said that the actor had arrived at the station. I frantically ran towards the platform and found no sight of him,” Rao shared.
“The story was born out of that incident which left a sadness in me. The very thought of what if a man waits for another who comes after 25 years? Madhave Madhusudana is that story,” he added.
The melodious and mesmerizing #NeeNavveSiri Song promo from #MadhaveMadhusudana is out now.
Catch the full lyrical song dropping tomorrow at 8 AM!
Promo – https://t.co/pxPJOZXNnp@TejBommadevara @Rishika_Lokre @CamBvasu @vikasbadisa #VirinchiPutla @rvijayprakash #RamyaBehara… pic.twitter.com/dEABoBEVtZ
— Aditya Music (@adityamusic) November 21, 2023
A poster of the film ‘Madhave Madhusudana’. (X)
After running from pillar to post requesting people from all his contacts in the industry to act in his movie, Rao suddenly wondered why he couldn’t launch his son Tej as an actor.
The makeup artist-turned-director said, “I urged many actors. But people didn’t have faith in me probably because of my roots in the industry as a makeup artist. When I asked my son, he was positive.”
“But I trained him in acting school for one year. He doesn’t seem like a newbie anymore, after that,” the 60-year-old says.
Rao had to start bankrolling his film with whatever meagre savings he had. “The director knows what to show on the screen. I’ve seen how producers rack their brains with escalating costs and budget overruns,” he said.
“Here, I need not worry. Both are taken care of by me. I set aside the budget before hand, sat on the script for a year and a half. I shot what I needed,” he added.
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