Sumanth Prabhas on Mem Famous: My priority is to write and direct, turned an actor only by chance

Writer Padmabhushan makers, Lahari Films and Chai Bisket Films, are coming together to introduce a writer-director-actor Sumanth Prabhas to Telugu cinema. The YouTuber makes his feature film debut with this week’s release Mem Famous. While the film has hogged the limelight for the right seasons, he caught up with OTTplay.com as part of a media interaction recently.

A peek into the world of Sumanth Prabhas

My original name is Sumanth Reddy and when I created my Facebook profile, I wanted to name it after my favourite actor Prabhas. The name ‘Sumanth Prabhas’ stayed on with me ever since. I wasn’t keen on entering films. We made a short film casually to make a mark in our college days. The film school management was impressed and sponsored the cameras for us later and we made a web show titled Pilla Pillagadu.

Coming on board for Mem Famous:

I come from a simple family; my father works in the real estate sector. My parents wanted me to become an SI, but Chai Bisket reached out to me after the popularity of our show. When I revealed about my family situation, they said it was possible to make a difference in the world with online content too.When Chai Bisket Films asked me to make a web series, I casually told, let’s do a feature instead.

They asked me to come up with a good story and said the rest would follow suit. I didn’t know how to narrate a story but I explained them the plot over a span of six hours. They asked me to direct it myself and we had plans to rope in a new actor. However, we couldn’t spot the right face during auditions and I decided to act in the last minute. Mem Famous was shot in sync sound.

Handling the responsibilities as an actor, writer and director:

We were clear about the project from the beginning. I’d shot the film on a phone before the shoot and it prepared us for executing it better on the field. We were quite confident on sets. The title represents the energy of the pivotal characters and the actors. The story is about three youngsters who’re desperate to get famous for whatever little they do. Mem Famous is largely shot with newcomers and they’ve done justice to their roles.

Coming up with an innovative promotional strategy:

The film was made with newcomers and it wouldn’t have been possible for audiences to identify with them through the posters alone. We thought about the promotional strategy for over a month. When nothing materialised, our producer Anurag liked the dialogue involving a wedding band in the trailer and we wanted to make ourselves heard through the troupe. Most of our videos went beyond a million views.

What next?

My first priority is to write and direct. If Mem Famous is successful, I want to balance my direction interests with acting. I’m an optimistic soul and I believe the positive energy around us will help us give our best.