Stunts Sree or Sreedhar is a well known fight master in the film industry from hyderabad. After passing the tenth standard, he went to Chennai to learn how to fight. He drew inspiration from Bhoomanand, his father. His father had worked in forty to fifty films beginning from Kothala Rayudu and then retired. People would keep asking them if Sree and his brother were interested in fights too but they were too young to make a decision. Both the brothers eventually became fight masters. In an interview with Y.Sunita Chowdhary from Klapboardpost.com, Stunts Sree talks about his father, his career and more. On his father, he says, “He had an unconscious influence and encouraged us. Dad was a pehelwan and got into the film field. We never went to the sets because we were kids and honestly at that point of time we brothers were not much interested. My brother Sreekanth too became a fight master and did many Oriya films. There was a union problem some time back and the fighters with the Chennai union card were not allowed in Hyderabad. Their point was if we were to work in Telugu films, we should do it and take a Telugu union card but not straddle two worlds. We had an attachment for chennai, we owed all our learning to the State and held back for a year. We had a chennai card and the issue was that the Telugu fight masters were losing out on work when we traveled to Hyderabad. Fight masters Ram Laxman decided to shift to Hyderabad and asked if I would be interested too. Since my native place is Hyderabad, I shifted too. I was living in Chennai from 95 to 2013.”
He adds the work is reduced considerably, “Because of the pandemic there is no work and the fights in the films are too reduced. During the making of Bahubali, there were so many films and we all got busy. The new directors to prove themselves are going against the formula which means there are no fights. if we do action films, it gets Hindi dubbing rights. It helps the producer’s business and so there are a few fights but the point is there isn’t enough time to compose. The unit plans the scripts a year in advance but when it comes to us, they give us a deadline, and give a few links and not the complete story. We don’t give hits as there is no breathing space to innovate and do rehearsals. Small fight masters also wish to work with big heroes but they get stuck with small heroes. The budget given is also less and there isn’t much scope for imagination.“
Small directors don’t allot a budget to fight masters. They think and do whatever comes to mind as the producer tells the director to manage and save money. They don’t employ fighters and the director does something and uses his name in the credits. This mostly happens in the web series. So without action masters, no chasing scenes, murder scenes and fights happen and even if it does, it is done clearly. Rehearsals help a lot. innovation and fresh ideas come from the script. We might have had a fight before, now locations have changed, characters have changed, heroes have changed. We have to give different fights and also the fight patterns change. In the 80s and 90s, the stars were busy and masters were few and they would pick same style fights from other films. Now patterns have changed and we too observe and update by seeing foreign films from that and Korean films and we compose fights and make sure we don’t repeat. Some are inborn. We watch a lot of world cinema, at least two or three fights. If we have a concept, we need to research and give something exciting.
Sree further shares, “Cinema is carried by the hero, we research and observe his style and are well aware of his capabilities. The audience trolls us if we give them the wrong kind of fights. It is not that they can’t do it, it is about how much they can do. Those days the audience enjoyed ridiculous fights but since our knowledge has improved, we are thinking in that manner. We are all hopeful that the films will release fast. My Love Story done by Kammula is ready for release. If people see the film and appreciate the fights, it is a kind of encouragement for us. We shall work with great enthusiasm again. We are hopeful and waiting with positivity that things will become normal again. We shall see action films again soon.”
Sreedhar stepped into the industry in the nineties and has fond memories, he had escaped major injuries and taken huge risks. The risks involve the fighters as well and that happens usually when timing is mismatched. There is no particular insurance or medical policy for fighters. The union gives a health card and a small fund is collected as a corpus and the Union helps when there is an accident. “There is no insurance for circus and fight masters, their point is that we undertake risks knowingly so they don’t reimburse. This is finally considered as an occupational hazard,” he says. Fights used to be dramatic then it turned realistic and natural and now it is more advanced and technical. Risks can be minimised. In 2016, some stunt men fell from a chopper and fell into the water and drowned, this can be avoided totally if shot technically. Sree finally quips, “Fight masters are now changing, earlier they would eat only carbs. They give quality food during shoots but at home we should eat right and healthy. We are fighting masters and fighters, so we don’t prefer going to the gym. We learn martial arts, horse riding etc. We like to be flexible and do yoga too. It is not about body building alone.” Forty three year old Sree has done forty plus films and signs off saying there is no retirement to fight masters. It all depends on how healthy and fit they are. He will do a war film in Gujarati soon and it will be a great experience. There will be so much scope for innovation and improvements. Ultimately what keeps them going is appreciation or a pat by the hero, the team and the audience. That works as a great tonic.
