Y.Sunita Chowdhary
Achievement is a relative term, we meet a lot of wannabe directors who struggle for years together and yet they don’t make it. Luck plays a major role in the film industry and we can’t undermine these strugglers who carry on with a hope in their heart. There are people who directed their first film when they hit forty and there are those who had the privilege to see their name in the title cards in the first two years or one year of their entry in films. Some have survived and are carrying on and some have disappeared after the first film flopped. This is a story of one such person Sripathy Karri who directed one film Hulchul and is now back to square one hunting for a producer; this time the struggle might not be the same but he is at least aware of what to do and not to do from the experience he gathered after having worked for his films and also as his stint as an AD.
I am from Vizag and I have done Masters in Business Administration. While I was in the 8th standard, my family got me a cycle and I would ride it for eight kilometres to school. On the way, I would imagine stories to keep myself busy and engaged. I would be the protagonist in my story. Those days we didn’t have cable television at home and so I would spend time creating space and super hero stories mentally. By the time I reached intermediate, I began writing poetry, I wouldn’t tell anyone about it though. It was followed by writing short stories. One of it was, how the youth today would be influenced by Bhagath Singh. When I joined degree college, I began participating in youth festivals.
In the second year, my teacher agreed to stage the play I had written. Every person has a story and all we need to do is add just some drama and based on the intensity the story develops. The response was very encouraging and I still remember the ten minute applause. A friend remarked I wrote the dialogues well and I should be working in the cinema industry. I began doing lot more skits in college and put my studies aside. In 2006, I resolved to move to the movie industry and left academics.
In Hyderabad I got into a multi media institute and soon learnt that it is of no help and has nothing to do with cinema. I slipped into depression and some managers cheated me by telling me that they would help me get into films. I went back to Vizag and stayed away from films for two years. In 2009, again I took a train to Hyderabad. I hoped that someone atleast this time will help me from Krishna Nagar. I then got introduced to director Anand Ravi of Napoleon. He wrote the story of Pratinidhi. I had enough time on hand, would go to internet cafes and learnt the technique of shooting a short film and read film making books. I began understanding movie and movie making but people at home were skeptical about my moves. All they wanted was to see me settle down in some job and they hoped I would get back home and do some thing. In 2016 Hulchul was okayed and the movie released contrary to their expectations. Dad is not yet satisfied. In our society, success is not viewed as achievement unless you earn money. When I worked in the direction department, I learnt the basics. I also learnt to handle post production as per Anand Ravi’s suggestion.
Writing is something that I didn’t need to be taught. While we were working on Napolean, the hero liked a story I narrated and he introduced me to a producer. I discussed the plot and he okayed it immediately. It took us three years to complete the cinema due to budget issues. The estimated budget was 80 lakh, on the day of shoot it came down to 50 and after a few days it was 25. I realized I was in a Padmavyuham. I could have shelved it but it is my first film I had no choice. I used my contacts and got some more money and completed the film. I should have actually narrated the story to a few others, I plunged into direction at the first opportunity.
I however finished the film in forty but my woes didn’t end there. Those who saw the film said it was good but there was no promotion. My first story was based on theatre arts titled Rangasthalam but I knew such stories won’t appeal to the people and it also needs publicity and strong producer. So I put that aside and wrote another story in four days after which I met the hero to narrate it. Then the hero and producer told me to change the climax. Hulchul was about a drug that creates hallucination and the person who is on it will not know the difference between reality and a dream. After drinking an entire bottle he meets his crush and the rest of the story is about the consequences. There was pressure on me from the hero to change the climax, usually in the first film he would want everything in it be it the fights or whatever. I didn’t know if the film would release that night.
Now I have begun trials to make my second film. It has been eleven years and there are so many opportunities at this point of time. Industry is like a kalpavruksham. I got any many offers to direct films for OTT post Hulchul’s release. The first film taught me a lesson, in fact I should be calling it a challenge. A day before the release, a distributor said I should call my contacts and use them to bring people to see the film. I then realized I took a wrong step and this is not my job. Promotion is like an oxygen, however good a cinema is, you should take it to the people. The best way to communicate for a director is cinema which is why I am here, and I didn’t know why I was asked to call people a day before its release. Every film is a new experience. We think we learnt something with that one project but actually we didn’t. We come across a new problem and experience always. Our achievement is working towards a goal without giving up.
