Hyderabad
March 21, 2009

Sunil Kumar Reddy won two Nandi awards for his films so far. His eighth film ‘Sontha Vooru’ featuring Raja and Tirtha is releasing today (21 March). Here is what the director Sunil Kumar Reddy has to say -

Background:
I completed my graduation in Mechanical Engineering. I was interested in journalism. I started a magazine and acted as editor/publisher of it. Later on I launched an evening daily newspaper in Vizag. I wanted to make movies, but did not work with any director. I made the following films –

1. Silence Please: It is a silent film. It’s a love story between deaf and mute lovers.

2. Hero: It is a children film. I feel that it is easy to give messages to children than grown up people. Children have open mind and receptiveness where are adults have preconceived notions. I have shown in this film that both education and indulging in play are equally important. Children should have mental as well as physical fitness. Hero film won 3 Nandi awards.

3. Chance: Chance is a short film. It won two Nandi awards and it was screened at Cairo film festival.

4. Prayatnam: This film is made on suicides. I have shown how people can fight and win over their problems if they hadn’t opted for suicide.

5. Megham: It was a commercial film and a flop.

6. Missing: This film did not do well at box office.

7. Best Friends (Malayalam): I tried my hand at a Malayalam film. It features Mukesh, Arun and Rajan P Dev in the main leads.

Sontha Vooru is my eighth film.

What is Sontha Vooru film all about?
Sontha Vooru is not a film, but an emotion. It is about our roots. We are blindly following the development route shown by western governments. Our villages are losing identity and uniqueness. Our villages are disappearing in the name of SEZs (Special Economical Zones). We are showing the negative impact of urbanizing villages and how it is diluting human relationships.

Tell us about the characters in Sontha Vooru?
I gave symbolic representation through the characters. Raja resembles the innocence of village. He also limps. LB Sreeram did the character of undertaker (kaati kaapari). Tirtha did the role of a prostitute. LB Sreeram and Tirtha represent death (ending) and sex (beginning) in a symbolic way. The characters of Tanikella Bharani and LB Sreeram represent two sides of the same coin.

You never achieved commercial success though you made seven films so far?
I am hoping to cross that jinx with Sontha Vooru film. I am trying to make this film appeal to all kinds of people. Sontha Vorru is strong in content and I got good technical team. Our cinematographer, editor and sound designer studied at Pune Film Institute. Our heroine is a gold medalist from Pune film institute. Another girl Swati is also an alumni of the same college.

Tell us about the music?
All the songs are situational. I incorporated an item song featuring Arti Puri. It is a purposeful song that discusses about recession, slump in share market, SEZs and political corruption.

What is the runtime of the movie?
We shot the film in 42 working days. The runtime of the movie is 2 hours and five minutes. We are releasing the movie in 20 theaters (2 in USA). Sontha Vooru obtained U/A certificate.

Who did the script work for this movie?
The script, screenplay and dialogues are jointly done by me, LB Sreeram and Gandham Nagaraju (Gamyam fame). We discussed about Sontha Vooru for 7 months before doing the final version.

What is your next project?
I have lots of scripts with me. I have to finalize on one of the scripts.

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