Collection king Dr M Mohan Babu, who reached a film status in his 39 years of film journey by carving a niche for himself with his unique style of dialogue delivery, is now all set to appear on silver screen in the male lead role after almost a decade. Yes, the veteran actor along with his two sons Manchu Vishnu and Manchu Manoj is ready to entertain the Telugu audience with his latest film ‘Pandavulu Pandavulu Tummedha’, which is said to be the full-fledged comedy entertainer. Directed by Srivaas of ‘Lakshyam’ fame on 24 Frames Factory banner and Sri Lakshmi Prasanna Pictures banner, ‘Pandavulu Pandavulu Tummedha’ is arriving theaters worldwide on this 31st. On this occasion Dr Mohan Babu took some time out to chat with the media about his upcoming release. Here are few excerpts:
We have heard people calling ‘Pandavulu Pandavulu Tummedha’ as remake of ‘Golmaal-3’. What are your comments on that?
There is absolutely no truth in it as we bought the story from writer Ravi. Later it was wonderfully developed by Kona Venkat, BVS Ravi and Gopi Mohan. Many have commented saying it’s a remake of ‘Golmaal-3’. But there are no similarities between the two films. In fact initially we all wanted to do ‘Raavana’. Nonetheless we started off this project only because it would take a long time to start that project.
Whose idea was it in making the film by working with both your sons?
Actually we have not planned anything like that before. It’s only due to the story demand that both my sons are part of this film.
How would you describe your character in this film?
I played a tourist guide named Naidu. I haven’t done a character like this in my career span of 39 years. There is a saying in Telugu “Notiki Durusekkuva…Chethiki Duradhekkuva” and my character is exactly the same. I’ve delivered satirical dialogues in this film after many years. A dialogue between husband and wife in this film will remind the audience of that in ‘Pedarayudu’. I was told that Raveena Tandon is the apt choice opposite me in this film. There is also a song in our combination. Dasari Narayana Rao garu played my father-in-law. Even though his onscreen presence is just for five minutes, scenes and punch dialogues between him and me will definitely capture the audience’s attention.
Speaking of Manoj’s lady getup, we would like to hear few comments from you?
Remember NTR garu earned immense name and fame by portraying Bruhannala character in the film ‘Nartanasala’. I’m sure Manoj will get the same name and fame through his character Mohini in this film. He dominated all of us with his performance in the entire second half. You can imagine his range of performance while an experienced actor like me became envious by his performance.
Is there anything that you wanted to talk about Vishnu’s character?
Vishnu’s character is quite interesting. It projects manly nature and at the same time elevates heroism.
Can you tell us the highlights of the film?
Every character has its own prominence in this film. Tanish played a dumb guy. I can say that story, Srivaas’ direction, Bappa Lahari and Atchu’s music, Mani Sharma’s re-recording, Vishnu’s manly character, Manoj’s lady getup, Brahmanandam’s comedy and Ratnababu’s dialogues are the main highlights. Not to forget the dialogues delivered by me. Varun, Hansika, Praneetha, Aali and all others were excellent in their roles.
Did anyone watch the film?
Dasari garu watched the rushes and appreciated it. He even corrected a small bit in a scene. So we did do the change. On his advice, I screened the movie at Film Chamber theater to few of them who are not related to the movie industry. All of them responded positively after watching the film. So my confidence level has increased since then. There is also high expectation on this film because for the first time it has me, Vishnu and Manoj together.
So how have you planned the release of this film?
We have almost spent Rs 30 crores for this film. The distributors have come forward to buy it for Rs 20 crores. Hence I’ve decided to release it by myself. It happened the same with ‘Pedarayudu’ film also. So I released it by myself and you all know how big hit was that film. I’m very confident about this film as well and am going to release it in more number of theaters than ‘Doosukelta’ and ‘Denikaina Ready’. My guru and well-wishers have warned me not to do so. But my confidence on the story has made me to stick to this decision.
Have you any plans to enter into politics?
Right now I’ve no such plans because one needs to have a lot of money to be in politics. However even if I contest in elections, I’ll make it clear to the people that I can’t offer cash for votes. I don’t mind loosing without distributing the cash, but do not want to loose in politics by throwing out the money. At the present political situation, I’ve no plans even to participate in election campaign. And I can’t say anything now about the future. I personally wish that Narendra Modi becomes a Prime Minister.
