The small but impactful film Raju Weds Rambai won the Telangana Gaddar Film Award for Best Feature Film, and its director Saailu Kampati has been honoured with the Best Director award. The film marks Saailu’s directorial debut and is a rooted story based on a true incident that happened near Khammam in Telangana.
“This story has been with me for nearly six years. I approached many production houses and actors, but they didn’t like the story,” says Saailu while speaking about his long journey in bringing the film to life.
“I kept trying because I strongly believed in the story and wanted to share it with a wider audience. Some people even felt that the climax might not work with the audience,” says the filmmaker, who remained confident about the narrative and continued his efforts without giving up.
Inspired by Venu Udugula’s film Needi Naadi Okate Katha (2018), Saailu wanted to meet the filmmaker and narrate his story to him. "While I was trying to find a way to meet him, one of my friends, Pavan, gave me Venu anna’s number. I called him and spoke briefly about my story. At that time, he was busy with the post-production work of Virata Parvam (2022) in Chennai,” says Saailu, who reveals that he was asked to meet Venu at his Hyderabad office after the latter was told that the story was based on a real incident. "He liked the story and wanted to produce the film."
Later, through his friends, Saailu also got an opportunity to meet people at ETV, who liked the story, too. To further convince them about his vision, Saailu shot a demo version of the film using local people and his friends.
“I just wanted to present a visual demo to Venu anna and the ETV team. So I shot a short demo film with my friends and showed it to them. They liked it very much and that gave us the confidence to start the project,” says the filmmaker, who wanted to introduce fresh faces rather than established actors to maintain a sense of authenticity. "The casting process took several months because I couldn’t find the right actors initially. Finally, I found Akhil Raj and Tejaswi Rao, who perfectly suited the lead roles.”
Another important character in the film is Rambai’s father, played by Chaitanya Jonnalagadda, who turned out to be one of the surprise elements in the movie.
“I liked his temperament and felt he would fit the character perfectly. In my script, the character was written as physically challenged because the real-life person on whom the story is based had the same condition,” explains Saailu, who points out that the role demanded immense physical effort. “In the film, he walks on one leg because the other leg doesn’t function properly. It is physically demanding and sometimes he experienced a lot of pain during the shoot,” says Saailu, who feels Chaitanya thoroughly Whoideserved the Special Jury Award he received at the Gaddar Awards.
While Saailu says that awards were not in his mind, the recognition has given him both happiness and a sense of responsibility. "I feel a little scared, but at the same time, I feel more responsible as a filmmaker,” says the filmmaker, who believes that such recognition also serves as an encouragement to many talented filmmakers. “Awards like these give a big boost not only to me but also to other winners who are trying to tell meaningful stories."
Meanwhile, Saailu has already prepared the script for his next project, and the production house is expected to announce the details soon.
“It’s a love story set in a small mandal headquarters. Unlike Raju Weds Rambai, it is not based on a true incident. It is a fictional story set in a village backdrop,” he signs off.
