Like YSR, Mammootty has an invisible aura that sets him apart: Mahi Raghav

First look for the much-awaited biopic on former Andhra Pradesh chief minister Dr YS

Rajasekhar Reddy

(YSR) was unveiled amid much fanfare on Saturday. Mammootty is playing the lead role in the film which will focus specifically on YSR’s famous ‘Padayatra’ in 2003, which catapulted him to power. Incidentally, the padayatra began on April 8, prompting the makers to release the film’s poster on the same day, thus coinciding with the momentous occasion in YSR’s political journey.
Revealing the thought-process that went into casting Mammootty for Yatra, director Mahi V Raghav said, “The first question that Mammootty asked me was why I had approached him to play Dr YSR when there were so many prominent actors in Telugu and Tamil. I then spoke about a certain scene from the film Dalapathi, which has a lengthy conversation between

Aravind Swami

, who plays the District Collector and Surya (Rajinikanth). At the end of it all, Devraj (Mammootty) gets up and asks the Collector what exactly he wants. To this, the latter responds that Devraj and Surya should give up all their anti-social activities and surrender to the
authorities. Devraj simply says, “Kudaradu” (Not possible) and leaves along with his men. In that one moment, Mammootty stole the complete scene despite the presence of star actors beside him.”
The director feels such a strong screen presence made Mammootty the perfect choice to play a strong character like YSR.
“YSR was exactly such a kind of person. Among a million people, clad in a simple dhoti, he could hold his own and stand out because he had this invisible aura about him, this larger-than-life persona and charisma which one needs to be born with. When I told this to Mammootty, he just remained silent,”Raghav said.
In fact, Yatra could well be the first straight Telugu film of Mammootty in nearly 25 years after

Swathi Kiranam

in 1992. “I was completely taken aback to see him recite dialogues from Swathi Kiranam. He still remembers them. Initially, I gave him a brief of the concept of Yatra in English, but he wanted a proper, comprehensive narration in authentic Telugu, which lasted for nearly eight hours. He would stop and ask for clarification whenever he needed it including the body language aspects and dialects of YSR,” Mahi expressed, while adding,“Here is a man, a celebrated National Award-winning actor who has done more than 350 films and yet, his dedication, his passion for work is inimitable. He bowled me over completely.”