For nearly 58 nights and 33 days, the cast and crew of director Ajay Bhupathi’s Telugu mystery thriller Mangalavaaram (Tuesday) filmed in Atreyapuram and its surrounding areas in Konaseema, Andhra Pradesh. His previous movies, RX 100 and Mahasamudram, were also extensively filmed outdoors. “Outdoor schedules call for thorough planning. I have a good team that helps me with pre-production and execution. Cinematographer Dasaradhi Sivendra has captured the night sequences extremely well,” says Ajay, when we get talking for an interview in Hyderabad. The Telugu film that will release in theatres in multiple languages on November 17 stars Payal Rajput, Nandita Swetha, Chaitanya Krishna, Ajmal Ameer and Ravindra Vijay, among several others.
Character-driven film
Ajay reveals that Mangalavaaram was initially planned as a Telugu film that would be dubbed in Tamil, Kannada and Malayalam. The Hindi dub was an addition after the team received requests. The writer-director describes the film as a rural thriller with a fear factor but refrains from stating anything more, “Even if I talk about the origin of the story idea, I would end up revealing crucial details. When you leave the hall after the film, you will feel like you watched a character’s biopic. That’s the treatment we have given to this story.” He adds that nearly 30 characters play key roles in the film. “Everything was planned to the last detail. I do not go to the sets without a bound script. It is even more essential for this genre.”
