Post-production Troubles:
The film ran in Annapurna Studios theatre for fifty days (!) as we tried to show to potential distributors and other prominent people that we know, but no one showed any interest to buy it! When
Rakshana was getting premiered, there was heavy rush, much more than the expected lot! I quipped with the director Uppalapati Narayana Rao, who was a close friend, that he should first show
Money to these people, and that half the people will then leave, so that we could screen
Rakshana without trouble to those who stayed back! Uppalapati had a lot of confidence in my movie and chided me to not talk like that, but such was my dejection about
Money! ...Ramu himself arranged for some money finally, and released in some areas while Suresh productions released in some more areas at last! Once the film released, it completed 100 days in eight centers and ran for 130 days in Odeon theatre in Hyderabad! The film collected more then three crores in the first run itself!
Epilogue:
When Varma announced the film, he gave a full-page advertisement in the daily newspapers. My father proudly showed it to everyone in the village. Unfortunately, he passed away two months before the film was released after all the delays. It always hurts me that he did not get to see my first film!
Acknowledgements : Special thanks to Sri Prabhakar Paturi garu
Article by:
Sri Atluri
Edited by : NaChaki