Rag Mayur, who has carved a small niche for himself in Telugu cinema over the last few years, with films like and , is gearing up for his next release, . As the film hits the streaming platform ETV Win on August 14, the actor talks to CE about the family road movie, and his plans for the future, among other subjects The logline stood out for me — a family on a road trip. Usually, we see films about friends taking a road trip or a road trip narrative turning into a thriller.
At least in Telugu space, we haven’t had a film where a family takes a road trip, at least a noticeable film. Even if we take , it was a father-daughter trip with a friend and a house help. Also, usually, directors try to be smart with narrations where they elaborate on their best scenes and skimp out on weaker parts.
So I always prefer to read scripts myself, and the script here was equally good. I relate to family dramas. When we were younger, my father would take us mostly for these wholesome family movies like , mostly the ones starring Rajendra Prasad and SV Krishna Reddy.
They have a universal appeal. In the last 15 years, the family film genre has witnessed a decline. Slowly, our films began concentrating more on action.
Even in films with new-age sensibilities, nobody really attempts a family drama. Also, earlier, family films were mostly about closely-knit people who drifted apart after a drastic event. We rarely see stories of regular families who have small fights and misunderstandings, small things that happen in real life.
That’s what we show here, in . Among all six characters in the film, there is an interpersonal equation. That relatability is what is unique about our film.
Praveen Kandregula was pitching for Raj-DK and made a short film on that concept, in which I acted. It was a big deal for me, to know that Raj-DK watched my work. With that small hope that my work would be registered, I prepped a lot for my part in that short film.
Later, when it was sanctioned for a feature film, both Praveen and Raj-DK retained the same set of actors, believing others wouldn’t bring that level of authenticity. It was like a dream come true. My role as Maridesh Babu went viral.
Later, Tharun Bhascker identified me and cast me in . I am grateful to everyone for this journey. I used to critique films and interview people for an online portal called Chitramala, which is now shut down.
I have analysed so many films; now when I hear a script, I can tell what’s the problem in a script, why some things won’t work or when a scriptwriter has used too many stereotypes. I feel I can have sound judgment about scripts, and I believe that working as a journalist gave me that slight edge. I was doing everything out of love for films — reviewing, directing, acting.
I made a short film called Antahkaran (2015) and I noticed that I wasn’t being appreciated for direction. However, people saw my acting in another short film, Raama Kaanvemira, and liked it a lot. So I decided to focus on one thing.
was dramatic. I believe my strength is drama. Comedy was a discovery during Somehow, Anurag Palutla (director of ) remembered my dramatic role in that short film and approached me for this film.
I play Veeru, who is named after his grandfather. He is an independent thinker, which is in contrast with the conservative thinking of his parents, who want him to have a secure job and stability. He wants to build a start-up on his own.
That way, there is a conflict of ideologies. After , that could have happened easily. I received some 50-60 offers, for roles in village comedy films.
I didn’t know it would become such a success, but even if I had known, I still wouldn’t do it. If you do similar kinds of roles, your career gets boxed. It happened to many actors, especially in comedy.
Obviously, all of us want to do more films, but quality must be maintained as well. While everyone else was offering me purely comic roles, my role in ‘Veeranjaneyulu..
.’ is pure drama. My part is not comic here.
While others are having fun, Veeru is amidst his internal struggles. Most of the comedy in the film is helmed by Naresh gaaru and Sree Lakshmi gaaru. Thankfully, even in mainstream cinema now, new-age sensibilities show up more often.
Like in , which had a new-age style of comedy, and new treatment, yet was pure commercial cinema. I haven’t had trouble getting offers from big filmmakers. Thankfully, I am receiving offers from the right kind of people.
I am part of Praveen Kandregula’s upcoming film Besides, I am also playing the lead role in the official Telugu adaptation of a popular Hindi web series. That character is very different. He doesn’t fall into any stereotype.
(laughs) I have no such plans, and I don’t want to chase anything. If I do that, I might lose out on some other particular, good roles. I say, ‘Let the scripts come.
’ Whatever came so far, came organically. Nobody planned this wave. When COVID happened, everything came on the same level as OTT.
Now people are glued to OTT and used to this ecosystem. Earlier, even if you made a 6/10-rated film, people would come to theatres. Now you have to make a 8.
5 or 9-pointer film, to bring them. Also, I feel the audience are also on the side of content, though I hate to use that word. If they like something, they are instantly drawn to it and push it through reels, memes, and word of mouth.
They embrace it like their own. So it’s an indirect statement from the audience for makers, to not get complacent. I can’t say from the producer’s perspective, but as a creator, it’s a good problem to have.
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