One of the most awaited releases in Tollywood this festive season is Godfather. Starring veteran actor Chiranjeevi in the lead role, the movie is helmed by renowned director Mohan Raja. The movie is all set to hit the silver screens on Wednesday, October 5 on the occasion of Dasara. A political drama, it is the remake of the Malayalam film Lucifer, which starred Mohanlal in the lead. Godfather is bankrolled by Konidela Production company and Super Good films.
Ahead of its release, Mohan Raja opened up about how he got the chance to direct the movie, how its screenplay differs from Lucifer, how he chose the villain, and much more, including his 21-year-long absence from Tollywood. The filmmaker’s last and only Telugu movie was his successful directorial debut Hanuman Junction in 2001. Then he made a mark for himself in Kollywood with 10 films, of which six are remakes of Telugu films.
“I was born in Tamil Nadu, but my birth as a director was here in the Telugu states with Hanuman Junction. After more than 20 years, I’m back here with Godfather. I have no words to express my feelings. I’m happy to be following in the footsteps of my father,” he says in a chat with TNM, recalling his father A Mohan, who was once a top producer and editor in Tollywood known for several hit films, including Hitler.
Mohan Raja further says that though he did not direct any Telugu movies, he was closely watching this space and that’s how he remade six movies in Tamil, which has earned him the name ‘King of remakes’. And when it was decided that Lucifer was the ‘right’ movie to remake for Chiranjeevi, Mohan Raja was zeroed in as the best choice to direct it.
Narrating how that happened, Mohan Raja says, “Distributor Prasad garu keeps asking me to come back to Tollywood. It was through him that I got this opportunity to remake Lucifer. Since Dhruva (remake of Thani Oruvan), Ram Charan and I are also in touch. When I was asked what I could offer new, I watched Lucifer again, sat on it for about three days, came up with a fresh angle and pitched it. Chiranjeevi garu was impressed by it and immediately agreed to it.”
Having worked in both Tamil and Telugu film industries, Mohan says, “Audiences in both the languages are the same in terms of reception, since emotions are universal. However, while working on remakes, we keep updating storylines as per the current trends in that particular industry.”
Commenting on the changes made to Godfather, Mohan says that its screenplay is more compact. “I’m not against slow screenplays, but here we have gone for a faster and tighter screenplay with fresh angles, without any lag. Chiranjeevi has about two hours of screen time.” Interestingly, Chiranjeevi will sport a salt-and-pepper look on the screen for the first time ever.
Mohan is known for his memorable villains. Remember the charming Siddharth Abhimanyu in Thani Oruvan/Dhruva? In Godfather, actor Satyadev will be seen as the antagonist. Talking about the idea behind casting him, the director says, “I wanted to cast someone based on performance rather than on their image. Satyadev was a great fit. In this movie, after Chiranjeevi, it’s Satyadev’s performance that is going to remain in the audience’s mind for a long time.” The director says that the villain makes the screenplay more powerful as he poses strong problems that the hero has to solve.
He further encourages viewers to watch Lucifer before going to watch Godfather. “I love Lucifer more than anyone. I must have watched it about 100 times. I request people to watch it and then go see Godfather… to understand the differences and enjoy it more. While Chiranjeevi shines in his role, several other characters from the original have got an interesting extension in the remake.” The movie stars many renowned actors, including Nayanthara, Samuthirakhani, Sunil and others.
Confident about the modified screenplay, the team is releasing Godfather in Malayalam as well.
The movie also has two superstars coming together – while Chiranjeevi plays the lead, Bollywood actor Salman Khan will be appearing in a special role. Speaking about this, Mohan says that it was Chiranjeevi who took the responsibility of bringing Salman on board. “We wanted another star to elevate the role of Brahma, which is portrayed by Chiranjeevi, and we thought Salman would be best suited.”
The director, who is also the brother of actor Jayam Ravi, is immensely happy about his brother playing the titular role in the recently released Mani Ratnam film, Ponniyin Selvan 1. “We are very happy that my brother got such a good role under mega director Mani Ratnam in PS 1. I’ve got to work with the mega actor here, so it’s a dream-come-true moment.”