Hyderabad
January 19, 2007

January 20 is the birthday of rebel star Krishnam Raju. He met scribes on the eve for chitchat at his residence. Here are the excerpts –

Any resolutions for this birthday?
I want to do more films. I would like to work for 15-20 days a month if I get the right scripts.

What about Krishnam Raju – Prabhas combination film?
We are listening to stories. There are three scripts and we have to finalize on one. It will start in August or September this year. Later, I will direct my dream project Visala Netralu.

Have you seen Yogi?
Yes

What is your impression of the film?
First half of the film is extraordinary. Second half is concentrated on sentiment and performances. How the ladies perceive the sentiment in the second half will decide the success of the film. Prabhas has matured as an actor in this film.

Have you listened to any interesting script?
An NRI project dealing with brain drain; they want me to play the vital role of a professor.

Tell us about the standards of music in your times and now?
For Bhakta Kannappa we went to tribal areas and recorded their songs and rhythms. Enniyallo song is based on the research we have done. At the same time, there were excellent music directors like KV Mahadevan who was capable of composing beautiful tunes even with the editorial of a newspaper as lyrics. We took 7 days to compose seven songs of Manavuri Pandavulu.

What about the star system at that time and now?
For us film industry comes first. In my prime, producers who were willing to pay four times what I was paid at that time approached me. However, I stuck to my producers and took regular remuneration. Artists in those days never used to be greedy. A great actor like ANR used to charge 50k per film for many years, though producers were willing to give lakhs. He increased his remuneration to a well-deserved 1,11,000/- after many years. At that time, it was the talk of the industry. We wanted to make sure that production cost is minimal by not charging more. Due to our liberal attitude, distributors and exhibitors benefited a lot. They started taking good films out of the theaters as soon as they got a new film. They stopped the long run of many good films as they were getting new films cheap. Once the remunerations increased and the slab system was introduced, the distributors and exhibitors started struggling.

What about the exorbitant prices at which big budget films are sold?
Indra created records everywhere. After that film, producers of all big-budgeted films started quoting prices by taking Indra as a standard. Not all films perform well at the box office. The producers should sell their films at reasonable prices.

What is your most memorable moment as an actor?
My films Manavoori Pandavulu and Katakatala Rudraiah were released within a span of 11 days. Both films went on to become silver jubilees. The roles I did in these two films are diametrically opposite.

What is your take on separate Telangana?
If your younger brother wants to separate from the united family, the best thing to do is to let him go. If Telangana people genuinely want a separate state, we should give it. However, if a few politicians are trying to play games by using people’s sentiment, it is wrong.

Krishnam Raju related articles:
Photo Gallery 2
Photo Gallery 1
Filmography
Trivia

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