Chal Mohan Ranga director Krishna Chaitnya recalls how his association with Pawan Kalyan, Trivikram Srininvas came into place

Krishna Chaitanya is one of the few lyricists in the Telugu film industry who made a successful transition to directing films.

Four years after he made his first film, Rowdy Fellow, he is back with a new entertainer titled Chal Mohan Ranga, which, he says, is a lighthearted film that captures the ups and downs in a young couple’s life. “It’s a simple love story about a young couple who meet each other in the US, and how they get separated and end up meeting each other again. Although the concept has been explored in quite a few films over the years, the characterisation of the lead actors makes all the difference in this film,” Krishna says. The film stars Nithiin and Megha Akash in lead roles. Trivikram Srinivas has penned the story while Pawan Kalyan co-produced the film along with Sudhakar Reddy.

Ask him how he ended up collaborating with two of the biggest names in the industry, Pawan Kalyan and Trivikram Srinivas, Krishna recalls meeting Trivikram while the latter was shooting A…Aa. “Nithiin and I have been contemplating to collaborate with each other for quite sometime. When he was shooting for A…Aa, I got a chance to meet Trivikram Srinivas and later, I got to know that he had a lot to say about my directorial debut (Rowdy Fellow). I was surprised to see him talk about every aspect of the film for nearly five hours. I’ve immense respect for him and it was a honour when he asked if I would like to work along with him. When Pawan Kalyan came to know about this proposed project, he too wanted to be part of it. It happened out of the blue, to be honest,” the director recalls. After A…Aa released, Trivikram pitched a couple of storylines and finally, they decided to develop a script which turned out to be Chal Mohan Ranga.

The film’s promos so far have given plenty of hints that it is going to be a big step away from the grim mood of Rowdy Fellow which follows the journey of a police officer when he is transferred to the Kolleru region. “Even my wife asked me why I wanted to make serious dramas when I’m quite a jovial guy in real life (laughs). I suppose the decision to make Chal Mohan Ranga was quite intentional because I wanted it to be quite different from my previous film. The treatment of the story is quite witty and I’m confident that people will enjoy the conversations in the film too. It also talks a lot about destiny and how everything we go through is a sign of things to come in our lives,” he adds.

Chal Mohan Ranga is partly set in the USA and Coonoor, a hill station near Ooty, and the filmmaker credits cinematographer Natarajan Subramaniam (Natty) for creating a distinct look throughout the film. “US is a great place to shoot and the East Coast, in particular, looks spectacular during Fall. I’ve a lot of friends and family members living in the US, and I understand their lifestyle. We tried to imbibe a lot of that in the story. Apart from Natty, I must thank Thaman, music director, for his wonderful work,” Krishna Chaitanya says, adding that Pawan fell in love with ‘Very Very Sad’ song. “Pawan Kalyan didn’t come to the shoot but he was extremely supportive throughout the journey to make this film. When we spoke about the shoot in US, he asked us if we would like to go back to shoot some more footage there. I mean he didn’t have to but the fact that he suggested that meant so much to all of us. I know that I’m working with some of the biggest names in the industry and the responsibility that comes with it. I hope we’ve lived up to the expectations.”

Having known Nithiin for a longtime now, Krishna states that both of them share a great equation which came in handy while making the film. “It’s very easy to work with Nithiin since we know each other so well. We don’t have to think twice to talk about anything and that’s important while making a film. Also, he has a fun side to his personality which hasn’t been explored in detail in most of his films. I’m sure Chal Mohan Ranga will change all that. Apart from him, it was a pleasure working with Megha Akash. She’s a very sensible artiste and since she speaks Telugu, she understood the emotion behind the story quite well,” Krishna signs off.

Published Date: Apr 07, 2018 11:17 AM | Updated Date: Apr 07, 2018 11:17 AM