First Rank Raju: The topper who fails miserably at life

Vidya 100%, Buddhi 0% — this tagline sums up our hero ‘First Rank Raju’. A total nerd, who’s a math and science whiz, he is full of bookish knowledge but has zero common sense. How he struggles to cope everywhere else except in the classroom makes for a relatable story, reckons Naresh Kumar, the director of First Rank Raju.
“The concept of the film is completely relevant to today’s times and easily relatable. So many students commit suicide due to poor marks, so I just had to make a film to show them that getting good marks isn’t everything in life,” says Naresh. Chetan Maddineni, who makes his debut with this film, plays the protagonist, Raju, who ends up making a fool of himself because he simply doesn’t know how to conduct himself in a world that’s beyond his books. “There’s a misconception that children who don’t get good marks grow up into useless adults. But Raju, who’s always been a class topper, can’t really succeed at anything in life. He’s a good student, but a terrible friend, lousy lover, inefficient employee and definitely a bad citizen of the country. he soon realises good marks aren’t, and shouldn’t, be the ultimate goal,” adds the director. A remake of the 2015 Kannada hit First Rank Raju, the film will strike a chord with the Telugu audiences too, says Naresh, who also directed the original. “The Telugu version will be an out-and-out entertainer. The basic premise is the same, but the story has been completely changed. With actors like Kashish Vohra, Prakash Raj, Priyadarshi, Brahmanandam, Vennela Kishore, Rao Ramesh, Naresh and Posani Krishna Murali, it will definitely be a fun ride,” says Naresh.

Produced by Manjunath V Kandkur under Dolphin Entertainment, First Rank Raju is releasing on 21 June, 2019.