Nagarjuna’s relentless chase: How he sought after Mani Ratnam for a month that led to ‘Geethanjali’ – Read |
Veteran actor Nagarjuna recently opened up about the turning point in his career while appearing on Jagapathi Babu’s talk show Jayammu Nischayammu Raa. The star recalled how he relentlessly pursued filmmaker Mani Ratnam every single day for a month to convince him to make a film together, a collaboration that ultimately resulted in the cult classic ‘Geethanjali’.
Early days in cinema
Nagarjuna shared that when he began his career, he knew very little about movies and largely relied on his legendary father Akkineni Nageswara Rao (ANR), for guidance. His debut film ‘Vikram’, a remake of Jackie Shroff’s ‘Hero’, clicked with audiences mainly out of curiosity to watch ANR’s son on the big screen. “I did around seven films after that, but they were more for the sake of doing them,” he admitted.His true breakthrough with the mass audience came with ‘Aakhari Poratam’ (1988), thanks to director K. Raghavendra Rao and actress Sridevi. “I was like a doll in that film,” Nagarjuna said, crediting the team for the film’s success.
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Interestingly, it was Mani Ratnam’s ‘Mouna Ragam’ that inspired him to chase a project he genuinely believed in. “I was unhappy with my films and wanted to do something I liked. After watching Mouna Ragam, I felt I would do well in a Mani Ratnam film,” Nagarjuna revealed.
Chasing Mani Ratnam
Determined to work with the acclaimed filmmaker, the actor found out that Mani Ratnam lived in Poes Garden, Chennai, and that he went for walks every morning at 6 AM. Nagarjuna then began meeting him during those walks, persisting for nearly a month. “He would let me talk for 10 minutes avoiding me. But during our brief meetings, I convinced him to work with me. That’s when we made Geethanjali,” he recalled.‘Geethanjali’ has become a cult classic. The romantic drama tells the moving story of two terminally ill youngsters falling in love.Currently, Nagarjuna is seen in the Rajinikanth starrer ‘Coolie’, where the ‘Mass’ star is seen in the role of an antagonist named “Simon”. The film has been performing incredibly at the box office, making over Rs 200 crore in India in five days as per Sacnilk.
