Venky Atluri is credited with delivering one of the most entertaining romances in recent times. The director of 'Tholi Prema' in this interview talks about how the project happened to him, the idea of going in for Rashi Khanna, his next project and more.

How has the audience's response been to your movie?

The other day, I watched 'Tholi Prema' at Devi Theatre. I must say that the way the audiences were reacting to the scenes, it was way better than what we expected. At the film's pre-release event in Bhimavaram, I had made a promise to Mega fans, the promise that I won't bring the title of 'Tholi Prema' to disrepute. I believe I have lived up to the promise.

When exactly did you pitch this story to Varun Tej?

I had written down the story even before 'Mukunda' released. When I saw its teaser, I felt my hero should look like this. But I was skeptical as to whether a Mega hero would do a love story. When I watched 'Kanche', I grew confident. It was when he was doing 'Loafer' that I first met him to narrate this story.

I later approached Dil Raju garu with the story. He loved it. But since he was pre-occupied with other projects and I couldn't afford further delay, I went to Bapineedu garu, BVSN Prasad garu's son.

This film took its time to go on the floors as Varun Tej had suffered a leg injury. Wasn't it a letdown? Also, is the film inspired?

It did go late on the floors but it was unavoidable. During that waiting period, I did some improvisations to the script.

The film is not derived from my personal experiences for the most part. It's a fictional story that I nativized to Telugu nativity. There are traces of it, though. I used to address my seniors in the college as 'Didi' or 'Bhayya'.

Whose idea was to rope in Rashi Khanna?

It was the idea of the producers and Varun Tej. Initially, I had thought of going in for a debutante. However, they felt it has to be a familiar face so the audience can connect with Varsha. There are only a few actresses who would be apt for the story. This is when we zeroed in on Rashi. The rider was that she had done quite a few commercial movies already. We, therefore, did a look test. We were convinced that she looked every bit like a 17-year-old.

Thaman's music is new in this movie. How did it happen?

Thaman has done only a couple of rom-com movies. When he listened to the story, he was quite excited. In almost all the cases, he gave the best number at the first instance. I was bowled over when I heard the BGM. I then realized how much he loved the story. It seems some girl had hurt him many years ago. He worked on this film as if it were his story.

How did people around you react when you chose 'Tholi Prema' as the title?

When the title was announced and the First Look was released, the audience welcomed it because they must have felt that it's a pure film. Nobody really objected to the title. However, some of them asked me to be even more careful in making the film.

You started out as an actor and then a writer. How did direction happen to you?

I always wanted to be in the film industry, although I didn't know how to go about it. I acted in 'Sneha Gitam'. I also happened to pen the film's dialogues. This eviscerated my interest in acting. I then went on to write for 'It's My Love Story' and 'Kerintha', working for which I got to observe the happenings on the sets. I love dramatic movies, love stories and political stories as a writer.

Have any big names appreciated you since the release of the movie? What are your next projects?

I got a call from K Raghavendra Rao garu, Telugu film industry's first showman. R Narayana Murthy garu too appreciated me. I am quite happy that many more have called me up. KTR garu himself tweeted about the movie.

My next is going to be with BVSN Prasad garu, again. I will also work with Dil Raju garu.