Vegesna Satish is reveling in the run-away success of 'Shatamanam Bhavati'. Even when he was going through a bad phase, the soft-spoken man was down but not out. He had to bide his time, took up an idea he had conceived 17 years ago, sat down to write a stunner of a script based on that idea and narrated it to Dil Raju. Rest, as they say, is Sankranthi-fied history.

In this interview, the writer-turned-director fields a range of questions.

'Shatamanam Bhavati' has come in for praise. When and how did this idea take birth?

Seventeen years ago, I happened to send in a short story to a daily for a contest. The story went like this: a grand daughter visits her grandpa's village for a festival, only to find that the village life is not exactly close to what she had been hearing. The story was not published; a few days later, I received a letter from the daily, saying that it was not fit for publication.

I had forgotten all about it. While to a village during the making of 'Kabaddi Kabaddi', upon finding that there was no festive fervour in the village, I once again discussed the idea with Jagapathi Babu garu, who liked it and asked me to make a short film. But as per the advice of a friend, who felt that it's capable of being made into a feature film, I desisted.

When I wanted to re-appear on the scene with a very good product, I once again re-visited the short story and developed it into a full-fledged script.

How confident were you that the idea would materialize?

I always knew that, regardless of success or failure, Dil Raju garu has had faith in me. Without him, this film wouldn't have been made. He is a producer who has got a rich taste. When he decided to make this movie with me, he didn't even know that I am not a debutante director!

It was Sai Dharam Tej first whom we approached. Then it was Raj Tarun. Either of them couldn't accommodate dates. We wanted to start the shoot in September, come what may, because this is a Sankranthi film. Even a fortnight's delay would have been costly. We then approached Sharwanand, who gave the dates.

It's easy to imagine Teju and Raj Tarun getting replaced, but what if you had to replace Prakash Raj and Jayasudha?

It's unthinkable. Nobody else would have done the roles that great. After watching a scene, some people in the team felt like falling on the feet of Jayasudha garu for giving those wonderful expressions.

Prakash Raj garu even gave us a very good suggestion on listening to the script. We incorporated the suggestion and it worked.

You did narrate the story to K Raghavendra Rao and Nani as well. What did they tell you?

Raghavendra Rao garu said that I had given importance to all the characters, not just the lead pair. He said that my efforts were showing in the script. I had worked on it for 18 months!

In the place of the Dubsmash scene, there was some other episode. It was Nani garu who said that it's old-flavoured. The same night, my daughter happened to send me two Dubsmash videos of her on Whatsapp. That's how I got the idea.

After watching the movie, Dasari Narayana Rao garu sent me a bouquet, congratulating me on making a neat movie. K Vishwanath garu, the other day, was telling us that we should send 'Shatamanam Bhavati' for National Award jury.

What do you think has worked for the movie big-time?

On day one, it was mostly youngsters who watched the movie. They felt it was good. When they took their parents to the movie, the parents' generation felt it was very good. When the parents took their parents to the movie, the grandparents' generation felt it was very, very good.

I think the audience are able to relate to the scenes, a reason why they have made our movie a big hit. All the scenes were designed to make those who don't know anything about village life understand something about it, or to make those who know something about it know even more.

The dialogues are very much natural. For example, Jayasudha garu's character tells her husband to come and have coffee as he doesn't take it if it's not hot. Every wife in every home uses that language. Even the hero is a part of the story.

Coming to the Dubsmash episode, was it an attempt at cashing in on the craze that Pawan Kalyan and Mahesh Babu have got?

Hardly. If you observe the scene properly, all the scenes which are Dubsmashed, except for two comedy scenes from 'Athadu' and some other movie, are related to the story. That's why the scenes being enacted are juxtaposed with the expressions of the elderly couple.

The intention was also to give a cheerful, entertaining moment to the audience without drifting away from the story.

Can we hope that you will continue to make story-based movies in the coming years, especially when comedy films are known to have too many unnecessary scenes?

The success of this film has affected my choice of scripts. I now have to ensure that my films are of a certain standard.

It's not like, when I look back at my previous works, I feel I shouldn't have made them. When you are in the exam hall and writing the answer, you wouldn't know there is a better answer in your guide or note book. When you come back home and read the answer from your book, you will exclaim, 'I could have written a better answer'. But when you were in the exam hall, you knew nothing about it.

It's said that Prakash Raj's character doesn't speak much till the climax. Why did you design it that way?

It's because the story line is too simple, so much so, there is no much scope for the character to have many dialogues. If he and his wife are shown conversing, the audience might have seen through it early on.

The element of the meeting between Sijju and Sitara, the old-time lovers who went about separate ways, is well-narrated. But was it necessary to show the lady as going through a sad phase in her personal life? She could have been shown as a woman with a n