After having wowed the audience with his sleek and trendy look in the comeback movie ‘Nenu Meeku Telusa?’, the budding hero Manchu Manoj is currently gearing up with his new movie ‘Prayanam’. Here are a few excerpts from his thoughts about the film.

How ‘Prayanam’ happened:

Manoj says that all this happened during a dinner and he owes a special thanks to his good friend Ajay Shastri who knew director Chandrasekhar Yeleti very well. Manoj added that he wanted to work with Yeleti since long and was waiting for an opportunity and that’s when they met up for dinner. While Manoj was said to be expressing his interest, Yeleti is said to have mentioned that he was hesitant as he was not sure if Manoj would be up for this offbeat role. Finally all hesitations got cleared and the dinner turned out to be the place for the project to take off.

About ‘Prayanam’:

The film has been shot for 40 days at Malaysia and the rest of it was shot here. It has very few characters like Manoj, Harika, Nani, Brahmanandam, Thameem, Moksha and a black man named Daniel. Manoj says that the highlight of the movie is the movie itself but going deeper, it is the introduction of Brahmi, the climax and also the time when he meets the heroine.

Working with Yeleti:

Manoj said that he believes in doing homework and true to his taste, Yeleti had given him a bounded script about 6 months back and explained the character. Once he came on to the sets, Yeleti was strict enough to check what Manoj has learnt and with a mix and match, he carved the character.

Music of ‘Prayanam’:

Manoj says that though there is just one song and three bit songs, the music by Mahesh Shankar has come out really well and he adds that the music director has done a fantastic job. Moreover, they have decided to release the audio through web so that this will kill piracy to a great extent. The download of songs can be done by anyone. Manoj concludes that music is the soul for this movie.

What is ‘Prayanam’:

It is a love and comedy thriller which is more on the emotional aspect than anything violent and it passes off like a smooth journey. The story revolves around the hero and his friends who are returning to go back to India after enjoying their vacation while the heroine is completing her education and is returning back. How their journey begins forms the essence.

Brahmi’s character:

Manoj says this is going to be a highlight since Brahmanandam will be seen portraying the role of a farmer who is on his world tour but due to his get up and appearance, he is detained by the authorities. His role will be a great contribution to the movie, Manoj added.

Character of self:

Manoj said that he plays this boy who is very impatient and restless, believes in doing things in a jiffy and very fast moving. However, when the girl comes he tries to get more balanced, composed just to impress her. He also stresses that dubbing is the key here where natural exclamations had to be given.

Family visits:

Manoj said that no one from the family actually tried to involve in the project. He said that papa Mohan Babu came for about three days, had a good time touring around and went back and later, it was Manoj’s mum who came. But none of them tried to know what is happening with the movie or something like that.

Future projects:

Manoj will be working on a new movie that will be made by Veeru Kotla and Anil who owns the ‘A’ channel is the producer. The script was prepared quite a while ago and now it is materializing. The shooting for this will begin on June 5th. Next, there is a home production that also has Mohan Babu in a key role and as a producer. K Raghavendra Rao is the director for this one. Then there is another one by Raja.

Purpose of having Lakshmi Prasanna banner and 24 frames banner:

Manoj said that while Lakshmi Prasanna has been into movies and has been coming up with various projects, 24 Frames has been specializing in coming up with serials and other assignments which would not mean a proper movie venture.

Reason for image change:

Manoj recalls that an accident that happened in the year 1999 changed his life as he was a sportsman and cricketer. He met with an accident during one of the matches and then he went to the US. There he shot up from 70 kilos to 145 kilos and it was not until ‘Donga Dongadhi’ happened that he came down to 88 kilos. Manoj says that he wanted to come up with a fleshy frame at the start and then create a sleek frame so that the impact is more.

India Glitz wishes Manchu Manoj the very best of luck for his ‘Prayanam’!!!