Telugu short film Manasanamaha has set a Guinness World Record as the short film that has bagged the highest number of awards. The coming-of-age romantic drama uses cinematography techniques that are rarely used in Tollywood films. The 16-minute long short film has won 513 national and international awards including the Best Short Film award at the Dadasaheb Phalke International Film Festival. It was also screened at several film festivals including Indian Film Festival of Melbourne, Bengaluru International Short Film Festival and San Francisco Frozen Film Festival, among others.
Helmed by Deepak Reddy and bankrolled by Gajjala Shilpa, the short film stars actors Viraj Ashwin, Drishika Chander, Srivalli Raghavendar and Prithvi Sharma in pivotal roles. The Tamil version of the short film Manase Namaha was presented by director Gautham Menon under the banner of Ondraga Entertainment. Sharing the news with fans, Ondraga Entertainment wrote, “We are elated to announce that our ManaseNamaha short film has got Guinness World Records for most award winning short film in the world!!”
Speaking to TNM, director Deepak Reddy who is basking in the success of the non-linear short film says, “We are extremely delighted and proud to make the country and our Telugu to be a part of world cinema history by this achievement.” Sharing that it was not an easy project to work on, the director observes, “It was an experimental short film and we shot it within five days. During the shoot, the actors or rest of the crew did not have a clear idea about what we were making. I had to keep track of everything and we had excessive pre-production and post-production work. So yes, it was a technically difficult film to make.”
He also shares that he did not expect the short film to win such accolades. “The short film was released during the lockdown and we did not really have plans to send it to film festivals. After it was released, some people who watched Manasanamaha suggested that it would perform well at festivals. We sent an application to the first 10-15 film festivals in September 2020 and it received a good response.”
Director Deepak who is currently working on his first feature film also mentions that he got offers to direct feature films soon after the short film was released.
Watch Manasanamaha here:
Dear Deepu, what a phenomenal achievement. A game changing short film. I also have the pleasure of calling you a friend as well as the distributor of #Major :) I can’t wait for you to shake the world with a feature film! #Manasanamaha https://t.co/aCYiZYXjlI
— Adivi Sesh (@AdiviSesh) June 26, 2022
Several Tollywood actors including Ansuhka Shetty and Rashmika Mandanna heaped praises on the short film following its release in the year 2020. Congratulating director Deepak Reddy and the rest of the team, Major fame actor Adivi Sesh tweeted on June 29, “Dear Deepu, What a phenomenal achievement. A game-changing short film. I also have the pleasure of calling you a friend as well as the distributor of #Major. I can’t wait for you to shake the world with a feature film."