Chandra Sekhar Yeleti in awe of Mohanlal

National award-winning director Chandra Sekhar Yeleti’s upcoming multilingual movie, titled Namadhu in Tamil, is already in the news for being an anthology starring Mohanlal and Gautami. The director, who made a mark in 2003 with his debut film Aithe,  has carved a  niche of his own, with films like Okkadunnadu, Prayanam and Sahasam in Telugu. Namadhu too, has surprises in store.

“The story is about the incidents in the lives of four people. Anthology films are not new now, but my human drama needed multiple stories, so I narrated it this way. The pre-climax and climax are very important as the characters get connected at that time. The screenplay is very important and I feel it will come out very well,” says Chandra Sekhar. After completing the script, Chandra Sekhar felt Mohanlal would be the best choice for the role. “I have never spoken to him or met him. We got his appointment through art director Sabu Cyril, but he said he was busy  and was not free for eight months. However, I requested him to listen to my story. Once he did, he immediately gave me his dates,” he says.

“I was awestruck to see him in front of the camera. He is a legend, an extremely talented and  gifted actor. The superstar is an all-rounder. He is a singer, businessman, and an army general, but still so down to earth,” he says. Since Lal is playing the main role, Namadhu is being made in Malayalam too. Asked why he has made just six films in 13 years, Chanda Sekhar says, “A few projects have been cancelled midway. The delay is because I write stories for all my films. Now, I have decided to take other’s stories too so that I can speed up a bit,” he says, adding that his movies are inspired by incidents he has seen or read. “After the action film Sahasam, I wanted to make an emotional drama; thus Namadhu (Manmatha in Telugu). Everyone can relate to the story,” says Chandra Shekhar.