Manoj is optimistic about his third release ‘Raju Bhai’
Son rise Manoj is confident of making it to the top
Success has many meanings and the barometers are in terms of figures. It may not have anything to do with merit, but if it’s about being a good actor, Manoj’s right up there. On his third release, he says, “We are the most visible e
lement of the film so we carry the lion’s share of praise for its success and obviously the same share of vilification for its failure. Donga Dongadi got me critical acclaim and people didn’t expect I could dance so well.
But Sri, I wasn’t happy at all; the story underwent changes. The current film Raju Bhai is also something I don’t relate to but I’m optimistic about its run at the BO. It’s about a ‘tap
ori’, a simple jobless character. I’m happy I’ve gained experienced from these two films. If I keep delivering hits right from my debut film, people would have termed it a fluke or would have said it’s expected of me because I’m Mohan Babu’s son. But now if a film does well, it’s like I can have the cake and eat it too.”
Manoj rubbishes the talk that he is heavily influenced by his dad and that’s the reason he’s too much into remake films. “I really can’t understand why one shouldn’t do remake films. Is there any guarantee that straight Telugu films, all of them have been sure-fire hits?
In fact in remake films, you can save a lot of time on the script work.” He adds, “My father is the producer of my films, he has every right as a producer and also as a father to give me inputs and involve himself in the making of the film. Ours is a team work. But fortunately for me there have been only arguments and finally he gives in, he says, ‘if you don’t like it scrap it’.”
Manoj loves pushing himself, loves adventure and is always willing to take risks. Recently while shooting for Raju Bhai he fell off from the train and his leg got stuck between two bogies. That was sheer accident but again he got knocked down by an auto and also went and hit the tree for a scene without a duplicate. The reason he cites is, “Whether I get hurt or the dupe gets hurt it’s the same, here I’m paying him to do it. That eventually means he’s taking the credit for something I’m capable of doing. The audience on the front benches are easily fooled but the A class segment knows I have used a body double. It doesn’t satisfy me somehow, but when I see myself doing it on screen I feel proud.
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About the most memorable moment he recollects, “The surprise visit of my sister to the preview theatre directly from the airport to see Donga Dongadi. My family kept that a secret and pushed me to the front row. And once the film got over my sister came and hugged me and my family started clapping. It was an overwhelming moment for me.”
Y. SUNITA CHOWDHARY
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