Nandi E V Ganesh Babu, who has acted in a few films including Mani Ratnam’s Raavanan, turns director with Yamuna. Speaking about his maiden venture, he says that many leading heroines were reluctant to play the female lead in his film because of its intense nature.
“Some of the actors were scared to portray the character, while others who were willing were not suitable for the role,” he explains. However, he seems to have found the right choice by choosing Sri Ramya from Tollywood, who won the Andra Pradesh government’s Nandi Award for her role in '1940 la Oka Gramam' (2008).
“I tonsured my head for my role in the film Bharathi and I had to keep shaving my hair to maintain the same look. It’s quite normal for a guy. But Sri Ramya went bald for the Telugu film and I don’t think any other actor would have done it at such a young age, considering the short life span of heroines in our film industries. I realised that she would be suitable for my film and she immediately accepted the role after hearing the story,” he says.
How a society is robbed of various things without the public even realising what they’re losing, interwoven with a political plot, is what the film is about. “It’s a commercial movie. But when audiences leave the theatre, they will only remember the message,” explains the director. In fact, Ganesh Babu himself should have played the lead role, but he chose not to, so as to concentrate on the script. “But I have done a small, yet funny character in the film,” he says. The post-production process of the film is currently on, and the songs were released on Monday this week.
Ganesh Babu, who was active in the theatre circuit before foraying into the film scenario, has won laurels for his play Motherland.