Director Mohan Raja is basking in the glory of 'GodFather', which hit the screens on October 5. In this interview, he talks about doing away with Tovino Thomas' character from the Malayalam original 'Lucifer', and more.

Excerpts:

I am happy to receive all the attention and love since the theatrical release of 'GodFather'. Chiranjeevi garu is a Megastar and I am glad to be the reason for the joy of the audience!

The story has been redesigned keeping in view the audience profile of the film. I wanted to simplify the original story. We did away with Tovino Thomas' character for a reason. As per the story, we know what Chiru's character has done in the past and is going to do in the future. What about the present? We need to show him actively doing something in the present. That's why Tovino's character was omitted. Instead of the elements present in that character, how about including them in Nayanthara's character? That made me beef up Sathyapriya Jaidev compared to the original.

Because of the changes I have made, the political story got somewhat less substantial and the family aspect became more pronounced in the story.

Remakes are looked down upon by many but they are not easy. It's always a challenge. Out of my 10 films so far, 8 are remakes. My father used to remake films that hadn't done that well in the original. He produced 'Hitler' with Chiru garu.

Getting to direct the Megastar is a lifetime opportunity. He never made me feel small on set. He would seek my consent for everything.

'Thani Oruvan' (remade in Telugu as 'Dhruva') is one of my few straight movies. That movie raised my stature since those who had been seeing me as a 'Remake Director' started seeing me differently.

'Dhruva 2' will definitely be planned in Telugu. NV Prasad garu, the producer, has already held talks with Ram Charan garu regarding the same. With time, things will work.

I met with Mahesh Babu garu for a story discussion with Prasad garu. But things didn't go to the next level. There is a possibility of a union happening in the future. I will always love to work with star heroes. I have storylines/ideas ready already.

I was supposed to do a Tamil film with my brother Jayam Ravi a couple of years ago. Around the time, he got a call from Mani Ratnam sir, who asked him to grow hair for 'Ponniyin Selvan-I'. Since he had committed to doing a film with him, he told Mani sir that he would seek my consent first. I asked Ravi to jump into the opportunity without a second thought, as Mani sir's film is the opportunity of a lifetime. I am glad that Ravi has been lauded by one and all for his performance in 'PS-I'.