As predicted by Nani, director Hanu Raghavapudi seems to have been catapulted to the league of front row directors by Krishnagaadi Veera Prema Gaadha. He began his journey in a humble way. His first and only short film, I Am Famous, was on AIDS awareness. When SS Rajamouli watched it, he found it haunting.

In fact, Hanu is not your typical bad-at-studies adolescent who loved films like crazy. He was good in academics and had this idea of becoming a filmmaker at a much later age. He came to Hyderabad to pursue MCA. But least did he know that his creative urges would get the better of him soon. He knew he had had innate faculty for writing. Thus, from being a short story writer in school, he is now a feature film writer.

Andala Rakshasi, which many thought was affected and a dull tribute to Mani Ratnam's Gitanjali, was actually fashioned after European films, in the director's own words. More than three years hence, we find AR was a one-off experimentation which he had to do forced by circumstances. As Nani says, the real Hanu has arrived!