Hyderabad: In showbiz, you are as big as your last hit. With the latest Akkineni family- starrer Manam being declared a superhit, it’s no surprise then that the director Vikram Kumar is the man of the moment.
The entire Telugu cinema fraternity applauded the director for his brilliant choice of subject and screenplay of the classic film that stars the three generations of actors from the Akkineni family.
But alas! When the director was approached for an interview, he turned down the request saying, “I don’t know how to give interviews. I don’t have anything smart to say. If my films don’t speak for me, there is no point speaking about it. If my films do speak for me then there is no need for me to talk. Please promote my film by talking to my stars. They have to be promoted.”
The director is leaving for Chennai to watch a special screening of the film with his family and friends. He will come back to Hyderabad to celebrate the film’s success with the entire crew and cast.
The success of Manam has boosted Vikram Kumar’s career too. Interestingly, Vikram is a Tamil director, who worked with ace director Priyadarshan initially.
He made his Tollywood debut as a director with Ishtam, which introduced Shriya Saran in 2001. But after the film did not do well at the BO, Vikram went to Chennai, and made three Tamil films till 2009. He then got noticed with 13B, a psychological horror film which starred R. Madhavan.
After this film, Vikram met producer Sudhakar Reddy and narrated the story of Ishq. In the meantime, he started a Tamil film with actor Vikram, but shelved it after a week’s shooting. Then Sudhakar Reddy asked him to start Ishq. While shooting for Ishq, Vikram narrated the Manam script to Sudhakar Reddy, who felt the story was apt for the Akkinenis.
He sent Vikram to meet Nagarjuna and the latter loved the script. He told him to complete the film Ishq with Nithiin and then start Manam. Vikram took almost two years to complete Ishq, which was a blockbuster for Nithiin. In 13 years, Vikram Kumar has done only five films and with Manam, he’s made a place for himself in Tollywood.
He’s unmarried — this success makes him the hottest bachelor in T-town.
Naga Chaitanya shares how it was working with his dad, Nagarjuna: “At first, it was the craziest idea that ran through my head; and as an actor it was going to be the most challenging role I had ever faced. But at the end, it turned out to be the best time I’ve ever had on screen!... I looked at him in reverence. His performance was absolutely superb and the scenes we did together were fun. My most memorable scene in Manam is the cycle scene — as a son, I waited for many years to ride it with my father beside me.”
