4 May 2023
Hyderabad
In an exclusive interview with idlebrain.com ahead of Rama Banam big screen roll out, director Sriwass spoke about the five-year gap after Saakshyam, why making family entertainers is difficult, Rama Banam, friendship with Gopichand, filmmakers pushing harder than ever to deliver their best, reteaming with Nandamuri Balakrishna and his next efforts
Nearly five years after his last release, Saakshyam, Sriwass, who has made a career out of popcorn entertainers, is ready with his next, Rama Banam, starring Gopichand. He thought of a project immediately after Saakshyam but it got delayed. “Later, COVID-19 third wave struck. The combination didn’t work out afterwards. In the industry, once a project doesn’t take off and if you need to work on the next, it will take six months to one year. In between, there was a plan to launch a youngster and everything was set. But I felt it wasn’t a good move at that time, so I had to abort the plan. Sometime later I met Gopichand casually. Initially I pitched him an action story. I wanted to do something away from what we made in the past. But he said, ‘I’ve been doing action of late. I’m looking at a pleasant family entertainer bearing our style’,” Sriwass tells us.
But then the director didn’t have a family story idea. He immediately recalled senior writer Bhupathi Raja narrating to him a family story idea many moons ago and got in touch with him on phone. “Bhupathi Raja garu shared the idea (of Rama Banam) for 20 minutes and I could connect to the plot immediately. Gopi heard it later and he echoed my feeling and asked us to develop it further,” he reminisces.
Sriwass believes it’s not easy to write a family entertainer as it has to tick many boxes to find the love from the audience. “As our audiences are exposed to family entertainers for a long time, there’s a perception that family entertainers are easy to write. They feel that it’s difficult to make a thriller or a different action film. However, a family entertainer requires more work. Let me take an example. With Rama Banam, there is a battery of cast involving Gopichand, Dimple Hayathi, Jagapathi Babu, Khushboo, Naseer, Tarun Arora, comedians Satya, Vennela Kishore, Getup Srinu and Ali. There’s house help Sureedu as well. On the other side, there’s a backdrop for the heroine. Her family is settled in West Bengal. It comprises Sachin Khedekar, Saptagiri, etc. Villain is from a corporate background. If these are the setups, imagine the work that goes behind these characters? Every character has to be designed in a particular way.
“Also, if you take actors who have a certain image, you have to write their roles keeping in mind their image. While explaining the characters on sets, you have to clear doubts if they have any. There is Khusboo in the film. She doesn’t sign a role simply; she is choosy. She needs to know her role, the story and her space. So you work on her characterization completely. Only then she will be in. Same is the case with Jagapathi Babu. He will not do a brother’s role just because the film offers him one. He needs to know his space and set up. There’s Gopi who has an action-hero image although he has signed a family film. We can’t overlook his action image and show him completely as a family person. We have to keep in mind the fans' expectations of him. So, we have to carefully craft an action thread that seamlessly merges into the story. And at the same time, the action shouldn’t be gory which puts away the family viewers. Overall, family entertainers involve a lot of work and it is the reason why they are difficult. If you look at the history of Telugu cinema, directors who handled commercial cinema had a long run as makers. Like for instance Dasari Narayana Rao and K Raghavendra Rao. Many people ask us why you don’t do a single layer film like a thriller or a murder mystery. People who make family entertainers can easily make such films,” he elaborates.
But does he think the Telugu industry respects the writing community like Hollywood does? “I don’t think respect is the right word here. Back in the day, a producer would okay a story from a writer and then would approach the right director to steer it. That system has gone extinct now. Directors are writing their own stories now. Writers are a few and far between. When it comes to me, if a production house approaches me with a script and if I like it, I can do it. What’s happening out there is that because our directors have a writing background, the number of stories that they are seeking from others has dwindled. Also, writers who don’t harbour direction dreams are very few. That said, there is writers’ dearth in the industry.”
As a director, how does he attend to the fact that there is scarcity and encourage whatever little talent that is available out there? “I give great respect to writers. If an unknown person texts me, saying he is a small-time writer and has a script, I will make an effort to call if not meet him and listen to what he has to tell. It’s the writer who gives birth to a film,” he notes.
Rama Banam is his third film with Gopi. To a question on how his relationship with Gopi evolved over the years, he maintains, “I narrated Lakshyam to him as a stranger. Before the meeting, I had never met him. That film did well and our journey continued. We made Loukyam later, after considering two-three ideas. During that film, I totally understood his strengths. Rama Banam took shape out of our friendship; not out of the story. After I narrated an action script, he said no. Rather not stopping there, he asked me to opt for a family backdrop story. That’s a testament to our friendship.”
Does their friendship go beyond the sets? “Gopi doesn’t mingle with everyone easily. Plus, I’m not someone who takes advantage of a relationship just because I know the person. I’m also reserved when it comes to relations. If there is an occasion that warrants meeting him, I will. But just because I know him, I don’t visit his office daily. I don’t like it that way. But as a director and hero, we did two successful films and our relationship is progressing healthily.”
Working for three films means that there will be an occasional creative difference here and there but Sriwass says differences are part and parcel of every profession. “In a field like cinema, such differences are more. Take for example, there’s a hero and I like to show in a certain way, while the hero sees the same scene/shot in a different way. It will be difficult to tell who is right among the two. Both of them are correct in their versions but the one who clearly explains his thoughts will win eventually,” he states.
Speaking about Rama Banam, he shares it’s about two brothers (Gopichand and Jagapathi Babu) who share contrasting ideologies. “What happens because of it? Who is correct in the end? How they get separated and how they unite in the end forms the crux of the story. It has a strong conflict revolving around organic food,” he reveals, adding the film’s story is a blend of Lakshyam and Loukyam. “It’s a film high on emotions. It has comedy and emotion in equal measure. At the same time, it has high-standard action. Action will be on another level in the film. The interval episode is bound to give the audience goosebumps. Every action episode has been designed differently and I’ve taken extreme care from the mood of the fight to the costumes of the fighters.”
Admittedly, shooting for the film transported him back to Lakshyam days. “It was pure nostalgia. We were shooting a scene in a house and both Jagapathi Babu garu and Gopi were required to hug. To serve as inspiration for the actors, I played a bit of music from the film in the background. As I was directing it, all of a sudden I was reminded of Lakshyam days. Coincidentally, both Jagapathi Babu garu and Gopi felt the same emotion after the shot. JB garu said, ‘After 14 years, the same emotion was repeated’,” he flashbacks with glee.
With the audience exposed to a wide variety of content due to streamers, Sriwass believes filmmakers are pushing harder than ever to win the box office. “Before the arrival of cell phones and the internet, filmmakers had more exposure, so people would listen to them. But the audience these days is a whole different beast altogether. Their knowledge has increased thanks to streamers and Google, so we have to cater our absolute best to them. With Rama Banam, I’ve taken two ways to reach it. One is I’ve set the action on a high standard and two; I’ve made a nativity subject. Take for instance, your relatives have turned up at your house and they want to experience your home theatre with a good film. Can you play a good film from any OTT? You can’t because you don’t know what pops up in the middle of the screening. But you can watch Rama Banam without any such hassles,” he exults.
Sriwass has forged a good bond with Nandamuri Balakrishna after directing him for Dictator but a second film in their combination has eluded the audience. Put that to him and he says, “I’m planning a good film with him. He likes me a lot. I want to do a genre which he hasn’t explored. I’m working on a couple of ideas and I’ve also told my friends to give me next level ideas. The project might happen any time.”
Next up though, he doesn’t want a major gap in his career. “I’m working on a huge action story which has franchise potential. There is a political drama as well, which can be a sensational subject. It’s ready. Both are in discussion stages with heroes. Whoever connects to either of them, I will make it with him,” he ends.
-NAGARAJ GOUD
