Cheliya is my most difficult character – Karthi

On 21st March, Cheliya, presented by Dil Raju, written, directed and produced by Mani Ratnam, in the music direction of A.R.Rahman celebrated audio event releasing all songs. Sirivennela Seetharama Sastry penned the lyrics in Telugu and he expressed his gratitude and love towards AR Rahman for making many of his trips worthwhile with music. He also shared that rather than just translating the words of a popular writer from Tamil, he asked for freedom in Telugu and thanked Mani Ratnam for being gracious enough to let him experiment. He put AR Rahman on a different pedestal and said no one has ever reached that in Music like him, so it remains unnamed until and unless, someone else try to name that level of brilliance.

Karthi spoke about the difficulty he had in performing the character and joked that he never thought he could reduce weight but Mani Ratnam made him to do so. He remembered about his early days as an assistant to Mani Ratnam and compared that experience to this movie. He said he got to learn more than those days and understood what is reaction acting and how to make believe that you’re thinking before speaking in front of camera in character. He wished the film to be an experience to audience as well similar to how he felt shooting it.

Aditi Rao Hydari praised Mani Ratnam and AR Rahman and thanked them for giving an opportunity. She also shared how she got time to interact with Mani Ratnam after being handed script on Day 1 of the shoot. AR Rahman thanked Sirivennala Seetharama Sastry for his words and also complimented on Telugu lyrics being better than Tamil. He said that he will be indebted to Mani Ratnam for life and completing twenty five years should be counted as a blessing upon him by a pure genius. He wished to continue to work with Mani Ratnam for many more years.

The director and writer Mani Ratnam spoke in Telugu through out and his effort brought in more applause. He thanked his actors for the journey and attributed the beauty on screen to the music and lyrics. He also gave condolences to Dil Raju and wished the producer strength. He ended his speech joking that the film would be better than his Telugu speech.

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