I wanted to prove small directors are talented: Maruthi

While Maruthi may be a well-known name in Tollywood, what with his low budget success formula becoming the talk of the town, the director himself cannot believe his meteoric rise to the top within a span of one year. ���I never dreamt this could happen,��� says a beaming Maruthi, who has come a long way from his modest childhood in Machilipatnam. ���I always loved painting as a child.I used to paint sign boards and numbers plates of vehicles to earn a few bucks to pay for my own fees,��� says Maruthi, who moved to Hyderabad after he graduated. ���I learnt animation and later joined a famous studio, where we were one of the first batch of animators in the city. We worked for Hollywood films and created storyboards for them. Ever since, I have been passionate about films.���
Soon, Maruthi joined hands with producer Bunny Vasu and invested small money in co-producing a few films before he took the plunge myself. ���I also invested in A Film By Aravind, directed by Sekhar Suri. I attended the last 10 days of shooting and learnt how not to make a film!��� exclaims Maruthi, adding, ���I observed that lot of money gets wasted during the making of a film. The movie went on to become a big hit, but we didn���t get our money back. I decided to keep away from Tollywood.���
But while he was focusing on his animation career, Maruthi got a call from Megastar Chiranjeevi. ���He heard about me and wanted me to design a flag for the Praja Rajyam Party back then. He was impressed with my samples and asked me to work on other promotional ads for the party. Once that stint came to an end, I was wondering what to do next,��� he says.
At that time Ram Gopal Varma made Dongala Mutha with 5D camera in a cheaper budget. ���I decided to do something similar. I purchased a few cameras and decided to make a film within `50 lakhs. I knew I had no experience as a director, but I wanted to prove that a good story will also work with the audiences, and not just fancy production values,��� says Maruthi, who made Ee Rojullu in 30 to 40 days. The hit ended up paving the way for a horde of successful small budget movies in Tollywood. Then Bellamkonda Suresh approached him for Busstop.
���I told him the budget for the movie is `2 crore, but I completed the film in `1.75 crore,��� he says. After this movie���s success, his third film, Prema Katha Chitram ��� a horror comedy ��� also became a smashing hit, making him the toast of the industry. ���Even though I never expected them to become such big hits, I proved the fact that small directors can be talented too. I see many movies languishing in film labs after the audio functions because filmmakers often end up putting their money in all their wrong places and end up in debts,��� he says.
Maruthi���s parents still live in Machilipatnam. ���A few days ago, when some movie buffs went and got pictures clicked with him, my dad realised how successful I am. He immediately called me and cried over the phone,��� says an emotional Maruthi, who is directing films with Allu Sirish and Venkatesh and even has an Allu Arjun project in the pipeline. ���Bunny, who once learnt painting from me, watches all my films on the first day and calls to congratulate me. I will surely work with him one day,��� he says.
Looking ahead, Maruthi says, ���While I was criticised for the adult jokes and explicit language used in my second film, even though the plot required it, I don���t want to use any vulgar language in my future films. I will make a clean film.���