Murali Mohan at the Re-Release Press Meet
It’s well-known that the film ‘Athadu,’ a collaboration between Superstar Mahesh Babu and Trivikram, has become a classic. The craze for ‘Athadu’ remains intact, even to this day. Produced by Murali Mohan under the Jayabheri Arts banner, the film is set to be re-released on August 9th, coinciding with Mahesh Babu’s birthday. In light of this, a re-release press meet was held on Saturday.
During the event:
Murali Mohan Speaks
“We released ‘Athadu’ under our banner on August 10, 2005. Now, we’re re-releasing it on August 9th, for Mahesh Babu’s birthday. We’ve upgraded the movie technologically and are re-releasing it. Prasad and his team supported us in this endeavor. When Trivikram Garu was a successful writer, we wanted to introduce him as a director under our banner and make his first film with him. At that time, we called him to narrate a story. Trivikram said he had promised Sravanthi Kishore Garu and would come to us after making a film under their banner.
Afterward, he came to us and narrated the story of ‘Athadu’ for three hours, making it feel like we were seeing it unfold before our eyes.
Old films used to portray the hero as a virtuous person, making everyone think that way. But when asked if the hero’s character in ‘Athadu’ was a bit negative, Trivikram said that’s the current trend. So, we all put our faith in him. When we built a house set, everyone praised its magnificence.
Approximately 90% of the scenes were shot on that set. Later, many people used that set. However, with the construction of the ORR (Outer Ring Road) later on, the set had to be dismantled. Otherwise, we would have even built a studio there. Mahesh Babu Garu was very cooperative for the ‘Athadu’ movie. No matter how late it got or how many dates were needed, Mahesh Babu Garu provided them. He worked very hard for the climax fight.
The film received a lot of appreciation. ‘Athadu’ created new history on the small screen. This film brought great respect to our production house.
My brother Kishore’s daughter, Priyanka, is bringing this movie to everyone after technically upgrading it. From now on, Jayabheri Arts will continue to produce films under Priyanka’s guidance. For the past few years, everyone has been contacting me for a re-release. After Jitendra came and asked, I couldn’t say no. I firmly believe that the ‘Athadu’ re-release will be a blockbuster. We are making special efforts to bring the film to the big screen at Prasad IMAX. People still use every dialogue from the movie ‘Athadu.’
The censor board members, after watching ‘Athadu,’ said it felt like an English movie. The theatrical release didn’t perform as well as we expected, but on the small screen, it created records. Other production companies also used the set built for this movie, which generated a lot of revenue.
Commercially, we are satisfied with ‘Athadu.’ All the films we’ve made are one thing… ‘Athadu’ is another. Even then, we made ‘Athadu’ with advanced technology. Trivikram impressed everyone with his amazing dialogues. That’s why Trivikram became a ‘wordsmith.’
Trivikram didn’t offer me a role in this film. My wife had a condition for me: ‘Don’t ask anyone for a role.’ That’s why I haven’t asked anyone for a role till now. If Mahesh Babu Garu and Trivikram Garu give their dates, our banner will produce the sequel to ‘Athadu.’ ‘Athadu’ initially received mixed reviews, but after it was shown on the small screen, everyone recognized its greatness. That’s why there’s so much craze for this re-release. Once upon a time, people only watched movies in theaters. Then TVs came.
But now, there are various mediums. That’s why movies aren’t running much in theaters these days. We are technically upgrading ‘Athadu’ and releasing it grandly. For a middle-class family to come to a theater and watch a movie, it has become an unbearable burden. Parking, popcorn, cool drink prices, ticket prices—all have increased significantly.
Trivikram also took full responsibility for the production of ‘Athadu.’ The shooting and schedules were a bit delayed, but Trivikram made the movie as planned.
For the role played by Nasser Garu in this film, we considered Sobhan Babu Garu. We sent him a blank check for that role. But Sobhan Babu Garu rejected our offer.
He rejected the role saying that he wanted to be remembered only as a hero, not in another character like that. Trivikram Garu made ‘Athadu’ very differently. At that time, this movie became a blockbuster overseas. ‘Athadu’ created records as the most frequently telecast film on the small screen.”
Anvesh, Representative of Mahesh Babu Foundation, Speaks
“We are grandly releasing the movie ‘Athadu’ on August 9th, for Mahesh Babu’s birthday. Whatever money we get from these re-releases, we are using it solely for the foundation.
Under the Mahesh Babu Foundation, we will continue to do charitable activities constantly.”
Priyanka Duggirala, Representative of Jayabheri Arts, Speaks
“The movie ‘Athadu’ was shot on film. Using current technology, we have converted it to 8K and Super 4K. The Dolby sound will amaze everyone. The sound in the climax fight will captivate everyone. Watching this movie in the theater again will bring back old memories.”
Jitendra Gundapaneni, Representative of Excel Banner, Speaks
“We are re-releasing the movie ‘Athadu’ on August 9th, for Superstar Mahesh Babu’s birthday. I love the movie ‘Athadu’ very much. As soon as I heard about the re-release, I went and approached them. I believe it will achieve higher collections than any other re-released film so far. We believe that ‘Athadu’ will captivate everyone once again.”
