Priyadarshi on Mangalavaaram - Ajay Bhupathi’s trust gave me the confidence to pull it off

Mangalavaaram, which hit screens on November 17, turned out to be a major success at the box office the previous weekend and is continuing to witness impressive footfalls across Telugu states. RX 100 director Ajay Bhupathi helmed the film with the likes of Payal Rajput, Ajmal Ameer, Shravan Reddy, Chaitanya Krishna, Ravindra Vijay, Ajay ghosh, Sritej and others essaying crucial roles.

However, the major surprise in the film was the sequence featuring Priyadarshi Pulikonda where a key twist surrounding the killer is revealed. To ensure that Priyadarshi’s casting remained under wraps, he was intentionally not a part of the promotional campaign prior to the release. In the end, the gamble paid off and the actor’s portrayal of Ravi turned out to be one of the high points of the film.

Also Read: Director Ajay Bhupathi on Mangalavaaram: Making dark action thrillers is challenging and addictive too

Talking about the film, Priyadarshi shares, “When Ajay Bhupathi gave me an elaborate two hour narration, I was particularly interested in two characters apart from Ravi - the blind guy played by Lakshman Meesala and the photographer Vasu (Shravan Reddy). Their character trajectories truly interested me, but it was Ajay Bhupathi’s trust that got me to play Ravi.”

The Balagam actor opined Mangalavaaram was an extremely well-crafted film when he watched it for the first time. “I was blown away by the music (B Ajaneesh Loknath) and the cinematography (Sivendra Dasaradhi). There’s more to the film than me or Payal Rajput - every character has an identity - a beginning, middle and an ending. I could notice the team work that went into it.”

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Surprisingly, Priyadarshi added how he was not fully satisfied with his first shot on the screen and said he could’ve done it better. “I realised how difficult is it to shoot action sequences, I must give full credit to Real Satish master and his team. I filmed for my portions in summer and luckily I didn’t have many shoots during the day.”

Swathi Reddy Gunupati and Suresh Varma M produced the film under Mudhra Media Works and A Creative Works.

Also read: Mangalavaaram Review: A dark thriller with splendid performances