Y.Sunita Chowdhary
Aditya Mandala, the engineer turned filmmaker waits for his big day i.e the 13 November which is when MVGV (Maa Vintha Gadha Vinuma) will stream on aha. He might not have gone to a film school but has sufficient knowledge in filmmaking; he had worked on Kshanam as an associate director. That being a small team and a small budget film, he had no qualms in serving tea to the crew on one occasion to being an art director for the project too. Since it was Ravikant Perepu’s first project, Aditya immersed himself into that film. He talks of his association with Siddhu Jonnalagadda who is the hero of the film MVGV as well as its writer.
“I knew Siddhu since Kshanam, We would hang out a lot. Our respective films were done, i.e he finished Guntur Talkies and I with Kshanam. Things were happening for all of us, it was a new beginning and we could see a potentially bright journey and future for all of us. Siddhu is a good writer and a narrator. He had co-written Guntur Talkies. When he narrated MVGV, it stuck with me for two days. After a few days he was looking out for a director and asked if I would be interested and I was like why wouldn’t I? From day one, his narration was on my head and all I needed to do was to translate it to the screen. It is a rom com.”
The director was always inclined towards beginning his career with a dark thriller but this just happened to him. The impact of the story narrated by Siddhu was so strong, he resolved to direct it. “We were a bunch of three or four guys and we would bounce ideas at each other so that we could get the best out of us. The film took its own course, we evolved as filmmakers and people through the filmmaking process. It was a fine experience to work with the MVGV team. Siddhu is clear he wants to be an actor and he had already narrated the story to a producer and mounted the project. We had mutual trust in each other and we shared roles. I feel we did a very good job, the credit goes to Siddhu, Sai Prakash who is the cinematographer and Ravi Antony who is the production designer and all our crew members Seerat, Kalpika, Kamal etc. All these people were personally invested in this film, they didn’t treat it as just another acting job. Tanikella Bharani did a brilliant job. The guy in this film woos the heroine for three years and makes her say yes to him. Once that is done, it is a cool relationship, parents are easy on them and they soon find themselves falling into a lot of trouble and everything turns upside now.”
He further states, “The generation we see now come under this bracket. People are emotional, impulsive and spontaneous these days. If they want to visit Goa, the next day they land there. We have been in some situations earlier where we would be standing in a queue for reserving tickets. Lives topple when we take impetuous and impulsive decisions. This film will break stereotypes. Siddhu is different here, he is very keen on the woman he wants to spend the rest of his life with. The film begins on her and ends on her, the woman is the centre of the film. The character is in love, he has a clear definition and approach to love. Most of the moments that you see is something that the youth will connect with. We put our experiences in the film. When we were in college, the kind of mindset we had, we put that in the space. After Siddhu and Seerat, it is Tanikella who plays a Telangana cop. He has an ultimate swag, he has his own philosophy and he is a chilled out kind of guy, he plays a key role in Siddhu’s life in the film. The film begins when he narrates the story to Bharani. Siddhu from day one has been insisting on Bharani’s presence in the film. He is a writer and an artiste and has a philosophy, a sarcasm in real life and none can duplicate his work, performance.”
About Seerat’s role, he comments, “Seerat plays a Tamilian Brahmin girl who has spent most of her childhood in Andhra Pradesh. She comes to Hyderabad to study engineering and is very clear about what she wants in life. After five years she knows where she will be and what she will do. She did a terrific job. She is a happy go lucky girl and the transformation she underwent for this film is brilliant. She pulled off the role with a lot of grace and ease. Cinematographer Sai Prakash worked earlier in Mosagallaku Mosagadu and some percent of Krishna and his Leela. This film will actually speak for him, he gave his heart and soul to the film.”
