Santo Mohan Veeranki: ‘Comedy is our forte’
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How design engineer Santo Mohan Veeranki turned to filmmaking and helmed the Raj Tarun starrer Telugu mission ‘Stand Up Rahul’
Pre-pandemic, stand-up comedian acts have been a staple in Hyderabad’s cafes, eating places and bars. “There were at least 10 events each week,” says Santo Mohan Veeranki, who makes his debut as function movie director with the Telugu movie Stand Up Rahul, wherein actor Raj Tarun performs an aspiring stand-up comedian. He and Raj attended stand-up comedian occasions to look at performances and gauge viewers response.
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The reputation of stand-up comedy in Hyderabad, Vizag and Vijayawada, the place nationally standard comics in addition to home-grown ones made their presence felt, didn’t shock Veeranki: “Comedy is our forte. Over the decades, look at Telugu comedy films. We love to have a good laugh,” he causes.
- Directors’ Club: The teaser, launched a number of days in the past, has perked up curiosity amongst viewers. What has additionally caught the attention is a cameo by director Venkatesh Maha. Veeranki and Maha had met on the former’s quick movie screening at Lamakaan, Hyderabad, and have been roommates, earlier than the latter made Care of Kancharapalem. Incidentally, Veeranki appeared in a cameo in Maha’s Uma Maheshwara Ugra Roopasya.
- Veeranki signed Sweekar Agasthi, who composed music for Care of Kancharapalem and Middle Class Melodies, and says, “Again, this was going against the norm. I often joke that Sweekar has finally arrived in Hyderabad, after Kancharapalem and Guntur (Middle Class Melodies).
Veeranki’s parents hail from Vijayawada, but he grew up in Pune where he pursued mechanical engineering; work took him to Bristol, the UK, where he worked as a design engineer for Airbus. Somewhere down the line, he was bitten by the filmmaking bug. “I hadn’t watched many movies in my formative years,” he says, and recollects a uncommon outing together with his household to look at Hum Aapke Hain Kaun.
Read More | Santosh Mohan Veeranki’s profession journey
In the UK, he started watching movies and says cinema fascinated, however by no means fatigued him. He started writing scripts, taught himself the right way to movie, edit and course of footage. A bunch of quick movies adopted.
He returned to India in 2014, decided to make movies. In Hyderabad, he found that the majority actors and producers most well-liked an oral narration to studying scripts: “It was a nightmare for an introvert like me who had avoided presentations even at work. Oka line cheppandi; story brief ga cheppandi (tell me the storyline; narrate the story in brief) requests stumped me. I had to learn to speak well. I attended open mic events and tried stand-up comedy,” he recollects.
Veeranki realised he wasn’t lower out for stand-up comedy, however he cherished to relate tales. He based the Tale Teller Troupe India in 2016 to encourage free-form displays. He then based the Cinephiles Film Club to host movie screenings. “I began feeling at home in Hyderabad; I found excitement in the chaos and grew exponentially,” he says.
Raj Tarun within the movie
The germ of the concept for Stand up Rahul was sown within the UK. When he determined to make a function movie, he revisited the concept, fleshed out the script with the assistance of writers Anusha Rao and Prashant Yerramilli. He didn’t know the right way to make a pitch to manufacturing homes. Guidance got here from producer Suresh Babu, who advised that he edit a present reel, as an alternative of anticipating producers to look at his quick movies.
Meanwhile, he made a listing of 10 actors to whom he may pitch the story. He first met Raj Tarun, the tenth on that record: “It was like casting against the grain. Going by his earlier films, I wasn’t sure if he would be game for an urban rom-com. However, even before I began narrating the story, he mentioned that he liked stand-up comedies. At the end of the four and a half hour narration, he agreed to do the film. By the time I reached home, he had already informed the producers [Nandkumar Abbineni and Bharath Maguluri] that he was keen to do this project,” says Veeranki. But Veeranki needed to be doubly certain. He requested Raj to undergo an audition, and the actor agreed.
Varsha Bollamma was roped in because the main girl for the city, coming-of-age rom-com.
Veeranki and Raj bonded over their love for world cinema: “Two of our favourite coming-of-age films are Rudy and October Sky,” says the director.
Stand up Rahul went on flooring after the prolonged lockdown in 2020 and is prone to launch in theatres later this yr. options Varsha Bollamma because the main girl. Veeranki hopes that with this movie, stand-up comedy as an artwork type will achieve reputation in tier 2 and tier 3 cities of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, given the recognition of Raj Tarun in these areas.
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