star interview with Mamta Mohandas

Mamta Mohandas. The hottest heroine in town! She is the new sensation in Tollywood. Like Illeana made a lot of buzz with her maiden film, Devadas, Mamta Mohandas is creating stir now even before her first film, Yamadonga, hits the marquee. Though the smashing beauty was replaced in couple of films before Yamadonga happened, she didn't give up and strived hard to get a foothold and already won a name for herself as a singer. She sung hit numbers like 'Rakhi..Rakhi' from Rakhi, '36 ..24..36..' from Jagadam, 'Akaleste Annampeduta..' from Shankardada Zindabad 'O Lammi Tikkareginda..' in Yamadonga and became an household name with them. As she is busy with the Telugu, Tamil, Kannada and Malayalam films, I literally chased her allover the South to catch hold for a interview. Here are the experts from exclusive chitchat..

How did films happen?

I am Malayalee and brought up in Bahrain. I had finished my schooling there and came down to Banglore for the higher studies. While I was in the last year of my studies Hariharan (Malayalam director) saw me in a party and offered me the film Mayookam but I was not sure of accepting it. My plans were different. After finishing graduation, I wanted to study in UK and then to the middle East. So I took some time to accept the offer. I finished Mayookam my holidays, and it took more than four months to get the film released (November 2005). After that I started doing films from middle of 2006 and completed seven films so far in Malayalam.

Tell us about your entry into Telugu

It just did happen. I didn't plan it. Though I was offered movies earlier in Telugu, I didn't take up them. Then I got offer from M S Raju and Aata was supposed to be my launch pad but it didn't. Then I waited for an exciting movie offer with a great character. That I got from Rajamouli sir's Yamadonga. I was too happy when I heard about the gigantic project and importance of my role in the film. That is why I put my Tamil career on hold. We took 7 months to finish Yamadonga and it was worth it.

Malayalam film industry offers more performance-oriented roles than Telugu. Today Tamil and Telugu films are dominated with Malayalm girls. What do you see the reason for it?

Let us not underestimate Telugu movies. Its true that it is a male dominated industry but heroines are given importance here keeping their limitations in mind. I am talking with my experience in Yamadonga, so I could be wrong. Trust me, Telugu movies are doing very well in Kerala now. Recently Telugu movies are releasing in Kerala too. They are catering to what the audience is expecting from a movie.

Malayalam movies have also got into the realm of making movies that are entirely focused on heroes, where we have little to do. But yes, once in a while good stories are written..and meanwhile we Malayali girls would be busy elsewhere. Ha..ha..(laughs)

You have also become busy as singer? What do you prefer to be known - a singer or an actress?

As a singing actress. I am an actress now and a singer forever.

Are you also mastering the Telugu language? How is the dubbing experience in Telugu as you are new to the language especially the Nellore slang that you performed in Yamadonga?

(Ha..Haa) It was as tough I was trying to make the next-to-impossible possible. Even after recording 6 songs in Telugu now and having completed Yamadonga's dubbing, I must confess that I know very little. I am familiar with words but can not speak yet as its very different from my mother tongue Malayalam. But what one must understand is that there is a world's difference between recording and dubbing.

The Nellore slang has a weird tune and the dialogues of my character go in various modulations. It was quite embarrassing to say some lines because in the dubbing theatre, it would have sounded too funny to my mom, the directors and sound engineers sitting in the console unit. But dubbing has made my understanding of the language better and I thank Rajamouli sir for insisting me to do it. It was a pleasure and a privilege to voice my character. I know all my lines by heart now.

What are your next plans?

Right now Yamadonga is big for me. I want to take it easy and watch both my singing and acting grow at a gradual pace.

How is acting in a socio-fantasy like Yamadonga, particularly as one of the two main heroines while three other heroines share the screen?

It is one of the best characters that a heroine could have asked in her career. It is different and rare. It feels great to be part of such a big movie and I think that is what counts at the end.

Has Tollywood been working well for you?

Both as a singer and an actress, It has been working well for me, I didn't expect it though. Rakhee was something that came after an unpleasant surprise (replacements etc.) but was a great take off for me and everything that followed were pleasant.

chitchat with raahul

Those who have seen and enjoyed Sekhar Kammula's Happy Days would certainly notice and like one character very much - Tyson. Raahul who played the role, like the rest of the cast of the film, won praises from all quarters. But this young student turned actor doesn’t want to stick to just 'underdog' kind of roles. Raahul has bigger plans. Know him and his future plans in this chitchat..

Tell us about your background?

I come from a middle class family. Born in Nizamabad, I was brought up in Hyderabad and all my education was done here. I finished BBA from ICFAI. Films have always been my passion and I wanted to be an actor since my childhood. I took acting class from Ramana Murthy (assistant of Satyanand) and then applied for auditions of Sekhar Kammula's Happy Days.

How has been the response for your character and what was the best compliment you have received?

First and foremost, I am glad that Happy Days has become a phenomenon. All of us in the film got recognition and youth in Andhra Pradesh have simply fallen in love over our characters. These are happiest moments in my life and I would cherish it for life.

More than its success and adulation, it is Shekar sir's (Sekhar Kammula) compliment put me on cloud nine. I am proud to say that he complimented that my acting in the film was like a seasoned actor.

Heard that you were first not offered this Tyson's character!

Yes, I was supposed to choose either Chandu or Rajesh's roles. For Tyson role, they were looking for a taller person but ultimately it was fallen on me. I was apprehensive of doing this role as it is a deglamorised one. During the shooting, I sensed that Tyson's character will get more brownie points and I did it confidently.

Your acting style and diction was similar to that of Hrithik's Koi Mil Gaya. Was it done intentionally?

There were many inspirations for this character but I did whatever Sekhar sir asked me to do. Sekhar sir has clear cut opinion on every aspect of each character - right from the diction, gait, and dresses to language. He wanted Tyson to be softer and speak in that way.

Sekhar gaaru asked us to live like the character we are playing. He was always with us - discussing, training, and inspiring us to better ourselves. He was more like a friend. Whatever that we did was completely his brain child.

What are your plans as an actor?

I don't want to limit to just playing one of the characters in the films. Lead actor is what I desire. Today audiences have matured and I am sure that they would accept me as hero. I am practicing dance and fights to better myself as an actor to do lead roles. My parents are helping me in this and supporting me.

Would you fall in love with your senior in your real life?

(laughs) Unlikely. I am very shy guy. I don't interact with girls nor do have interest in romance and love at this juncture. Career is utmost important to me now.

Do you still in touch with your co-actors in Happy Days?

Yes, we became good friends after closely working for four months. We bonded well during the rehearsals and started sharing the same room during the shooting. All of are still talking to each other over the phone. Chandu is now in US. The guy who played Ranadheer (Senior) and I meet every day and we became thick friends. Nikhil (who did Rajesh character) talks to me daily over the phone. Happy Days not only brought me recognition and it also gave me good friends.

How did you find Sekhar Kammula?

Sekhar sir is genius. He is also very down to earth man despite being such a big film maker. He treated me like his friend and is fond of me. He gave us freedom during the shooting. Sekhar sir is an inspiration for any youngster and role model to emulate.

What's next?

I am getting some offers but nothing has been finalized yet. I want to for complete makeover and start taking up then. I can do any kind of roles.

Happy Days by Sekhar Kammula What is this post mortem? total-happyday.blogspot.com is starting this exclusive, explosive and exciting section called Postmortem, where we conduct a postmortem of the latest releases. We shall be discussing and analyzing the strengths and weaknesses of the movies with their respective directors as to why those films have become hits/flops. We request the directors to give us their honest and frank opinions. Happy Days by Sekhar Kammula Part one total-happyday.blogspot.com met Sekhar Kammula for doing postmortem of his latest blockbuster ‘Happy Days’ which is creating sensation all over. In this part one we are bringing you how Sekhar Kammula conceived the main characters in ‘Happy Days’ Chandu: All my films have a soft spoken main lead. And Chandu is of that kind. I wanted a good looking and charming boy who is identifiable by youth. He should also be confused about his life and career. I have to show the other characters through his eyes using his narrative. There is a romantic angle to him and he is the silent observer who later narrates his college story. Tyson: I wanted an under dog with lean looks. Every college will have these kinds of characters who are extremely intelligent, at the same time they look very lean. The drama element to his character is about creating a love story with a senior girl. These kinds of guys also have lots of confidence levels. Tyson thinks that he could impress the senior and he would be the boss of his seniors once he enters corporate field. These kinds of guys excels a lot in their life after their college days are over. They become real life heroes after they pass out. It is a typical Narayana Murthy (Infosys) kind of character. I wanted an extremely lean guy. But I was impressed with Rahul at the time of audition and took him though he is not that much skinny. When I wrote the character, I had people referring to him as ‘bakkoda’, but changed it after casting Raahul as ‘juttoda’. In fact, I made slight changes to the characterization to suit Raahul. Tyson character is about inner beauty. He is an amazing friend, a great lover, a fearless fellow, a sacrificing guy and a genius. There are tremendous heroic qualities in his character. I wanted Chandu to learn and grow by observing Tyson character. Rajesh: He is the pure entertainment provider. He is a playboy, has an outspoken personality and a dil-daar fellow. He is a friendship monger and does not know much about love. Kamalinee character: Lots of people said that it is inspired by Main Hoon Na. It is common practice that people love classes that are taught by beautiful women. And it happens in most of the colleges. In Main Hoon Na, it is created to cushion SRK’s character, but in Happy Days it’s real. The greatest payoff I got from this character is Rajesh’s poem narration in the climax to grab the job. Paidi Talli: We generally observe that each and every engineering college has lots of guys who can’t speak English. They also have inferiority complex developed due to their lack of English speaking abilities. Seniors help these kind of guys through ragging. I have shown seniors in college in positive light. This character got highlighted with the last dialogue he utters in the job interview. Madhu: I created Madhu character for cinematic relief. To be honest, I did not love that character 100% while writing it. She has high family values and belongs to a closely-knitted family. She also has a bit of ego that she is fair skinned and beautiful. I addressed the physical relationship of this character positively. The nobility of this character is that when she is caught with boyfriend asking for a kiss, she says her parents - meenu nannemi anaru. Meelo meeru badha padataru. She gives value to the parents and their feelings. I feel that whenever such a sensitive issue crops up, kids should talk to parents and so that there is healthy communication between parents and kids. Generally, people say that I am partial towards women in my films. I wanted to change that perception in this film. The hero character never gets diluted in this film. The greatest payoff in this relationship thread is that Chandu assures both daughter and father in the beginning and end of the film respectively by placing his hand on their hands. Appu: She is a tomboy. She dresses like a boy as she is very close to her father. She also moves around with boys. She gets attracted to Rajesh for obvious reasons. She comes from a village. Shankar: I have seen lots of people like Shankar in my college days. These people come from needy families and it is extremely important for them to study hard. They do extremely well for an year or two. Then they get distracted by various issues (women, politics, alcohol etc) and spoil their studies. Sangeeta: I conceived this character to distract Shankar. She is the first negative character in my films. After watching this film a girl told me that like there are bad boys, there are bad girls too in the colleges. I never wanted to have any bad woman characters in my films. But this is an exception. Krishna (Fat guy): His character gave a great payoff in the climax. It shows that seniors always help you when you pass out though you had problems with them during college times. Pandu: He is an insecure guy who always want help. I established that character very strongly in the beginning of the film. But had to trim off his scenes to limit the runtime of the film. Hence there is no proper ending to this character. Sravanthi: I wanted to show her as a mysterious woman. She appears like a flirt in the beginning of the film. But over a period of time, we realize that she is a pure girl at heart with no physical relationships. I wrote some background to her. But did not have opportunity to show it in the film. She is basically daughter of a divorced mother. Hence she misses fatherhood. That is the reason why she would like to have a guy beside her most of the times. Which character is close to your real self? I have 70% of the traits of Chandu. I had career confusion when I was studying in college. I went to USA for MS just because everybody was going to USA at that time. But luckily it helped a lot. Mine is an ideal case of what you can achieve by going to USA. I attended the film school and became a director now. But I am more forgiving than Chandu. I added my forgiving trait to Tyson character. We have to think beyond and look at the larger picture. Did you fall in love during your college days? No. I never approached any girls. I am very bad at girls If you look at the film closely, you shown four boys and four girls joining the college and then falling in love by pairing off. Don’t they have anything else than looking for a partner in opposite sex and dating? To know the answer of this question, wait till next week………… Tell us how you liked this postmortem More to come on at total-happyday.blogspot.com