The director of director Mahi V Raghav Yatra will be screened on February 8th. risk educated because he was aware that political films do not usually click at the box office. However, Mahi said that he could not have been at peace with himself had he chosen not to tell the story, which he described as something which "fascinates" him.
Yatra is based on the marathon organized by political leader YS Rajasekhara Reddy undivided Andhra Pradesh in 2003.
"I think this film has the potential to move the audience, whether or not they know this person (YSR ", The director told indianexpress.com in a phone interview.
"I was very conscious not to write this film in the prism of YSR garu. You do not need to know YSR garu to like this movie. It's a human drama. If you know it, it will add to your experience. If you do not know him, you will always love the human drama. It was a challenge in terms of making this movie, "he added.
Mahi V Raghav said that he had taken a more grounded approach in writing the YSR narrative, instead of just feeding off his legend. "In terms of character, I just wanted to create someone humble, brave, loyal and someone who values friendship." It is these traits that will be universally dramatic and would be loved. I focused on these parts instead of creating a larger-than-life image and this is not my USP either, "he said.
The director was very specific about how to to play the human drama, which, in his opinion, will ensure the commercial success of this film., apart from the performance of Mammootty.
"Since this film was about a person and recent events, I had the luxury of meeting people who were part of his life.I had their first hand accounts about it.And I also met people who have made documentaries about him.J & # I took this information and these parts of fiction to adapt them to the format of my film, "he explained.The director stated frankly that he did not believe in an" honest biopic "in the cinema traditional
"There has never been an honest biopic, we must keep in mind that the public does not come see a documentary They want to be entertained and that's why they pay money. And when we make a film for this format, our role as filmmakers is to tell a good story as much as possible. And we should forget about other elements, such as being right chronologically or factually, "he explained.
He claimed that entertainment is what the public looks for in a movie and not the information. "There are hundreds of documentaries for this and the public can watch them at no cost," added Mahi.
The director of Anando Brahma felt that the very support of the film was not conducive to the realization of an honest biopic. "We are going to change the timeline, we go to club events and characters. In the end, this story has a structure designed for a specific medium and we must achieve it. In the name of biopic, we should not try to give a kind of authenticity or honesty to the movie. This is not true and it can never happen in the film, "he said.
Mahi V Raghav pointed out that the percentage of success of political biopics was practically nil in the country. And yet, he saw the potential of the story and took the risk anyway. "The biggest challenge is that political biopics have never worked in India. Take, for example, Iruvar or Periyar. The only film that was made by a white man (Richard Attenborough) is Gandhi (1982), who clicked on a commercial basis. It's something I'm aware of but I always wanted to take the risk. I bet on the dramatic part of Yatra, believing it could work, "he said.
And the formula that he thinks that will break the spark of political films that fail commercially does not swarm information. "I am a disciple of Rajkumar Hirani's films. Each scene must be emotional or entertaining. There is no information. The main strength of this film (Yatra) is emotion. I think that the audience will have an emotional connection with history and that it will emancipate with YSR garu, "he said.
The 34-year-old director stated that Yatra was an excellent learning curve for him while watching Mammootty work closely together "I do not like to say that I realized Mammootty, I just collaborated with him", has he declared.
According to Raghav, working with Mammootty has made him a better director and he is more confident now that he can easily manage other actors in his future endeavors.
"After seeing (Mammootty), it is now easier for me to lead other actors, I know his methods and techniques, I told him that he had made my work easier and that I could now handle any actor, "he noted.
Raghav was not hesitant to say that Yatra would be a Mammootty show until the end." Without even to exaggerate or flatter, I can say that no one could have played this role so perfectly, "he added.
Speaking more about Mammootty's contribution to the film, the director revealed that the first one had him- even wrote the entire scenario in malayalam get his lines in just telugu.The actor rewarded three times by a national award also appealed to a dialogue badistant on the trays and dubbing studio for a perfect diction of words in Telugu.
"Once he knows the substance of one's character, he sits on it. He tries not to imitate someone else. He enters the soul of the character. Because of his approach to the character, he stands out, "said Mahi V. Raghav.
" He penetrated into the soul and spirit of the character of YSR and interpreted it in its own way. That's why it sounds so real, "he added.
Yatra is also performed by Jagapathi Babu, Sudheer Babu, Suhasini Maniratnam and Rao Ramesh, among others.