2 July 2019
Hyderabad
Prasanth Varma of Awe fame surprised everyone by bringing out a commercial film with none other than Rajashekhar. The film met with varied reception from reviewers and audiences alike. We caught up with him to discuss Kalki.
What’s your opinion about the divided talk on Kalki?
I’m not surprised at the reviews because I was expecting it. I also agree that the first half is slow. We had very less time to finish the post production. Also the reviewers were comparing Kalki with Awe. Maybe if I was expecting Awe and saw Kalki I’d also give the same review. It’s two totally different genres. I wanted to experiment with the commercial genre. All the slow motion scenes and fights were done for hero elevation.
Why did you decide to go with a commercial story for your second film?
I don’t want to get typecast. I don’t want people to think I can only do a certain type of cinema. Career wise those who got typecast early on in their careers have found it hard to get out that. If I can pull off commercial cinema then I can do another experimental film and then do other genres. I needed to expand my market. I also wanted the B and C centres to recognise me. Kalki’s story can be done as an A centre film without songs and fights like a Sherlock Holmes or a Bhomkesh Bhakshi but then I realised I’ll be slotted into a particular category and I didn’t want that. I thought it’s also fun to do a commercial film so decided I to go with that genre.
What made you choose to work on Kalki in particular?
People who were interested to work with me wanted to do similar films like Awe. Rajashekhar garu wanted to do the film with me and it worked out that way. It’s not my story, it was my writer’s story.
So are you happy to direct other writer’s scripts?
If they excite me, why not? I also want to give my stories to others to direct. I worked on a science fiction story for two years during my Engineering times which I’ve recently given to my friend to direct. I’m actually going to act as creative producer for the project that he is going to direct.
How did you go about the screenplay?
I wanted to do a commercial film but not stick to same template where they introduce the villain, hero, heroine, then have a couple of songs and fights. I wanted to break the template but still make a commercial film. I’ve got messages from people who’ve watched Kalki saying, “commercial cinema ela kuda chestara?” That’s what I wanted.
Were the twists in Kalki part of the original writer’s script?
The original story did have twists but it was written like a web-series. I had to adapt the screenplay into a movie format. I removed multiple things and added my own things so basically restructured the whole thing. It took eight months to finish that process.
What do you think are the positives of the film?
The BGM, cinematography, screenplay and my direction. *Laughs* It connected to the B and C centres like I wanted. Some jokes which I thought were actually silly got a lot of laughs there.
There are a few scenes in which the CGI didn’t seem up to par. Any comments?
The CGI was a last minute thing. We had announced the release date and had less time to do CGI. We were all working sleepless nights. I think for 15 days no one slept. We were awake in the studio all night. The conformist was also very tired. So in the end he didn’t know which was the finished version and which were earlier versions. Some parts finished parts of the CGI are in our hard-disk but didn’t get applied.
How did you feel about the audience’s reception?
It was completely opposite to the reviews. Some reviewers liked the film, some said the first half was slow, the second half was good and the climax was extraordinary. The general audience didn’t feel all those things, they seemed to like even the bits reviewers thought were slower or needed more comedy.
How did the controversy about the script ownership get resolved?
Someone thought they also had a similar script. We went and submitted our script to the Writer’s Association and they decided they are both different scripts.
How was it working with Rajashekhar and family?
It was really fun. He’s actually a very funny guy. Recently from whomever I’ve met, he’s got the best sense of humour. He can crack jokes on anything and they are funny. He also cracks jokes on himself which is very cute. He brings a lot of energy to the project. And the family do almost everything together. I’ve rarely seen two or three of them instead of all four. And Jeevitha garu deals with politics, home, Maa, finances in production, so many things; she has a lot of patience. The girls both grew up in cinema so they know everything about cinema. Whatever suggestions they give are sensible, and they leave it to discuss.
What’s next for you?
I’m working on three, four scripts right now. I’ve spoken to some actors about them as well so if things like actor’s dates, producers, budgets, fall in place I’ll start shooting soon. The shooting will start in one month, which ever project it is. Hopefully! *Laughs*
- Maya Nelluri
