From ‘Boothu Director’ to Family Filmmaker: Maruthi’s Lesson

Director Maruthi made sensational comments about how filmmakers these days are marketing their movies. The director has found fault with those who make exaggerated comments and make controversial statements to bring the audience to the theatres. Speaking at the promotional event of Beauty, Maruthi expressed regret about these ongoing scenarios in the movie industry.

Director Siva Sai Vardhan, who made Beauty, was feeling low when his film Bhale Unnade failed at the box office last year. At that time, Maruthi could not see a fellow director disappointed and hence immediately called him to offer a new film. Revealing this incident, Maruthi said, “I always feel for directors. I do not attend parties because there is nothing I can do there. I want to motivate a director who faced a flop. I want to uplift their mood.”

Maruthi also explained how he tried to negotiate with the director of Barbarik to change the film’s title. However, the director was determined not to change the title, which ultimately led to the film’s failure. Eventually, he was caught on camera slapping himself with a chappal in a viral video on social media.

Addressing this trend of directors and producers making controversial statements, Maruthi said, “It is so bad and disappointing to see where we are heading. Someone says they will remove their shirt if the film fails. Someone says that they will quit the film industry. Someone starts hurling abuses at the audience, and someone goes on making exaggerated statements about the movie. It is such a bad trend. A director or an artist can create art and give employment to many. We should not continue this trend.”

Maruthi was once branded as ‘Boothu Director’ for filling his films Ee Rojullo and Bus Stop with a lot of double-meaning dialogues and vulgar scenes. However, in the later years, Maruthi completely moved away from that zone and made family entertainers like Bhale Bhale Magadivoi, Mahanubhavudu, and Sailaja Reddy Alludu. Today, he is working with Prabhas on Raja Saab, with a budget of 400 Cr rupees. “If I can start writing double meaning dialogues, no one can beat me in that. I am not in that zone because we should bring more families to theatres and give quality cinema to the audiences,” said Maruthi.

Maruthi asked the directors to take his career as an example to find the path of growth, but not resort to doing unnecessary things to bring audiences to theatres.