Priyadarshini Ram’s film Case 99 is ready and could be released anytime soon. He had directed a few films, took a big gap and is back to direct his dream stories. “If not now, then when?” he asks and that’s true. He was successfully running an advertisement agency and would write a copy. He became so popular that he worked with Prime Ministers, Cabinet Ministers, and every Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh. After having handed over his agency to his sons, he stepped into the media. It wasn’t his choice at all, his heart was always in movies but YS Rajashekar Reddy and Jagan’s affection disarmed him completely and he plunged into making Sakshi a household name. What was supposed to be a stint of three months extended to a few years and when YSR passed away, he lost the will to work and stepped back.
He had many options but his heart ruled over his head and stayed with the young leader who showed extraordinary courage in moving away from the Congress. “When we lost in 2014 by five lakh margin which was less than the margin he won in Cuddapah… it was a wrong time to leave. When you are down, you should stay and I stayed back. When Jagan won in 2019 I took leave and he wasn’t happy about it. I needed to fulfil my dream. There is a good team, a process is available and everything is set. After 12 years if you are making a film, you need to warm up and this is a warm up film. I wanted to make a film which is close to people, which can connect and there should be something to take away and it all has this,’ he further says. Case 99 is a contemporary subject and is inspired by a real incident,” he shares with Klapboardpost.com.
Y.Sunita Chowdhary
Trivikram our pride: Earlier people were confirmed in their thought of entertainment but now the engagement level has become more important. Those who are coming to OTT platform are already burdened by enough personal problems, so most of the content in the last few years has been done predominantly with entertainment as more fun, than many be of value. Ala Vaikuntapuram has been more evolved and it is one of the few films you come across where human behaviour is dealt with. There were two specific incidents that caught my interest most strongly. One, when the hero comes to know that he is not a child of this mother but some other mother and has an option to go back, he says, “Then what will become of that mother if I suddenly walk away from her.” Tabu gets to know about her husband’s affair and as a corrective measure, he comes home early to please her. She tells him, ‘I liked you then and not now when you are behaving like you have wronged me’. Forgiveness when it comes in completion from a woman is so beautiful. Everyone does something wrong but we should wash ourselves out of that and not bring that weight into marriage. It is not necessary and you should start afresh. The Butta Bomma song was very nice and a simple song. Trivikram writes filmi dialogue which is very exciting to watch and listen to. The philosophy of life he somehow ingrains into his dialogues, it is as much cinema released film and also an OTT.
OTT platforms have engulfed our lives: The line between cinema and OTT platforms is not wide but between entertainment versus engagement, today entertainment is not engaging anymore but engagement is more entertaining. As long as the engagement graph is high and emotion is held, and you are part of those characters…it is very entertaining because you have become part of that world. I am laughing isn’t important, I am involved is important. About the big screen, it is like staying in the womb with a lot of audience. The DTS, sound effects, visual sense is good. But now when it comes to OTT platforms, beyond 60 percent watch it on cell phones. What is the impact you have? Unless you have a graduation of emotion which is real – either it should be close to my feelings or close to the feelings of wanting to be someone else. Either relatable or aspirational, it becomes an important part of story-telling. All the devices of distraction are removed when you see a small five inch screen. It is the content, the amount of continuous pressure you put on the audience to look at the screen which is why OTT is better. A story like Pataal Lok is like binge watching, each episode is less than 30 minutes in the regional market which is as much as a journey time in a bus. This is when you catch their attention. The age group 18 and 35 is watching more content on phones, so the change is dynamic. Now most homes have one television. Crime content is very high on viewership which means it has to be seen in privacy. Once upon a time, satellite television was like a family get-together but not anymore. A single television home is for soap. If you want drama or excitement, go into your room or see it on your cell phone.
Optimistic outlook: There is a younger generation which is taking over and they all will soon have something fresh and new to offer. There are comparisons with what Bollywood is providing but we are starting and we shall reach there. The process has just begun and evolution should happen from the writer’s end. We have streaming platforms selling packages and plans which are active now so there is reason to believe Telugu cinema content is not good. We might have a critical view of cinema so far, some which released on OTT but they have shown extraordinary numbers on OTT. This means the industry is on the right path which is a very good understanding of the temperature of the audience. We don’t have to be disappointed, I have seen people who did IIT refusing jobs and coming here to work. Next few years will be fun.
Drawing ideas from culture & epics: Primarily we are all built on the experiences of our lives. We’ve had experiences, memories which make us feel judgemental about certain things. Also we are a source of memory over experience. Our memories of culture, the epics have brought a story format and we drew a lot from them. For the Tamil audience, the evolution process began far earlier. We dub it when we get Tamil, Malayalam stories and some of them haven’t done well. If Na Autograph didn’t do well, Shankar’s Aparichitudu, Robo was a success. They come from a Tamil stable again. There is commerciality which is necessary in story telling even when we are telling values. Expression of drama is very important for us as an audience. Malayalam cinema has a slow pace which we can’t see because so far what we showed Telugu people is fast paced stories. After Shankarabharanam released, I went to Rajamundry on work and I took a rickshaw to reach the station. On the way I asked him how the film was doing and while I did, I even noticed his calf muscle, could see his veins and understand he was under nourished. While crossing the theatre, he said ‘chala bagundhi, mass ki nacchadhu kaani naaku baga nacchindi’. He didn’t think he was mass, that is his samskaram. We get such cinema. We respect it too. I am sure everyone from Tamil and Malayalam industry will pick up ideas from us very soon.
Unlocking theatres: How will the theatres survive? If 50 percent of seats are occupied, if sanitisation cost is high and eateries not getting sold then primarily it is because of fear and numbers will drop. If management is not going to make money, rentals are higher, what will the producer do? Maybe a big film ticket value should be jumped like it is priced in Delhi. What would be the draw if there is a cinema screening which doesn’t have actors with huge images? My film has actors with performances. We shot this much before lockdown in the outskirts of the city. It is an investigation crime drama and I don’t want to reveal anything at the moment.
Love Doctor: I also was a columnist for youngsters and would handle a column called love doctor advising them when they faced a predicament. I was at a hospital recently and a man came up to me and said a particular woman had written a letter to me seeking counsel. I told him there are many but I reply to only one letter. She happened to be that one apparently. She showed the paper to her father, he read that and got them married. The man was in the hospital for the arrival of their baby. That goes to say that a written or a spoken word cannot be taken back; it impacts people greatly and we never know what implications it could have on people, We need to be responsible and I stress that I never learnt this overnight. We have to cultivate the habit of not hurting people.
