Y.Sunita Chowdhary
Pushpaka Vimanam starring Anand Devarakonda will be releasing soon and the one who directed is Damodar from Srikakulam. The talented young man had his share of struggle but he got his first film without working as an AD. A writer himself, he comes from an interesting background of naxalism and literature, art and drama that gave shape to his passion and career in the film industry. Though he was born in Srikakulam, he was brought up in Vizag and moved to other places. In a conversation with Klapboardpost.com, he touches upon a wide range of topics such as film, spirituality, books and ideology.
On childhood & grandpa: When I was in the fourth or fifth standard, I was attracted to cinema and would see films regularly with uncles and my cousins. My father, a writer, was also a bank employee and in his free time, he wrote many books. My grandfather belonged to a naxal group, they would dance and stage dramas in villages. During school days I would join the troupe in dance and drama and had the encouragement of the family. The peasant revolution inspired the elders in the family and they would fight for labourers and their land issues. After fifth standard, my parents relocated me to a residential school because I was travelling a lot and skipping academics. All the dance and drama stopped. My father was a great influence on me and I read a lot of Viplava Sahityam and anything that was available in the house. I would raise questions and they would answer me patiently. I grew up in the midst of their ideology and initially hated the system. Our family was into a lot of social service and I was attracted to that. By the time I finished graduation, I moved away from people and their ideologies. Mamidi Appala Suri, my grandad would carry a cloth bag and in it I would often find Wonder World, a science book and a gun. When he ate, he would never leave a morsel as he knew the value of food and never used soap which was a western product. He was away from materialistic things and did great service to the people. I also got to see a few naxal followers who were corrupt and I was thoroughly disillusioned by them and moved away from anything concerning them. A rebel is born out of an issue but when the issue is solved, he still holds the weapon and becomes an issue to the society.
A drift from Naxal ideology: Very few are patriotic, selfless and service oriented but mostly they are interested in money and begin to dhandhas and forget ideologies. I began to drift from all this. While I was in the intermediate I would see a film 50 to 100 times. Every day I would watch a film religiously. I remember seeing Don (Shahrukh Khan) once. We walked into the theatre 15 minutes late and I narrated how the story could have been in the initial part of the story to my friends. My friends went to see the movie again and were surprised that my narration was indeed correct. I suddenly became popular for my judgement and prediction skills of a film. I would see the first day morning shows of the films and tell perfectly if it would work or not. My judgement of cinema was good and I would analyse it well. On the career front, I got interested in doing advertisements but had no exposure, career guidance or counselling. I never had a goal and was fickle minded too. I took science as my major and moved to computers and then did MBA to learn ad film making. I left that abruptly.
Indecisiveness: I come from a socialist family and wanted to establish an NGO in my village. Going ahead, I understood that there is no point in helping, as I got to know people’s mind and their agendas. That move was a waste of time and I shelved that too. I realised that whatever we do, we should address an issue only at the root level. I lost interest in marketing too. I was a topper in studies in school and college and people never thought I was useless; It was just that I was known for being indecisive. I always pick a subject that interests me and not what is in demand. I perhaps would have had a great future had I focussed on the marketing job. I lost interest in it and so did in software jobs. My interest lay in cinema and I saw world cinema called Mongol and Taste of Cherry. I decided to be a director after seeing those films. Then I researched and wanted to enter the zone as an AD. I watched a lot of world cinema, read books and decided to do a short film. Film making is a learning process and I still didn’t get a break but a major change took place in Hyderabad. I did many short films that had social awareness. After coming to Hyderabad, I found out that the working style and narration of the subject is different. I wasn’t picked by anyone. I couldn’t bag jobs as AD as they found me suitable for writing only. I never wrote a story and once I began, I could see the flow. 
On a spiritual journey: I wasn’t desperately seeking a break. I was just observing if I could fit into the film industry. It took me a great time to realise that this is my calling. I saw various stages of life, Naxalites, corporate life etc. I never worked as an AD on the set. My writing came out and evolved organically. I pitched a story to Vijay Devarakonda post Yevade Subramanyam. He saw my short film before Yevade and texted me, I got in touch with him when I was in Hyderabad. This was around the release of Yevade and he was still in an unsure phase about his next project. I was writing stories for small money those days and I wasn’t in touch with many people and didn’t socialise. I also turned spiritual around that time. I had my calling after I read many books on Sadhguru, Upanishads, Vivekananda and Ramakrishna Paramahamsa. I had many questions and found solace in meditation, read astrology and finally found out my life purpose and got into film making seriously. Spirituality indeed gave me a perspective and everything fell in place. I wrote a full-fledged script and Vijay Devarakonda’s father liked the story and now I have successfully wrapped up my debut film.
Pushpaka Vimanam: My stories are inspired by the happenings in the society, I pick it up and dramatise it. My next story is a social subject and that will be written in an engaging format. Pushpaka Vimanam is fresh, sensible and has commercial actors. I don’t want the audience to think that wasted their money on the film. This is the second production of the Devarakonda family after Meeku Matrame Chepta
