23 October 2024
Hyderabad
With Narudi Brathuku Natana (NBN), fronted by Shiva Kumar Ramachandravarapu, Nithin Prasanna, Shruti and Jayan, Sukumar Boreddy is debuting as a producer but his dream has always been to direct. For someone who has been staying in the US for the past 15 years, production was the last thing on his mind but fate had other plans for him. “From childhood, I was interested in writing and directing. Back in the day, opposite to the school where I studied, there was a government library. By the time I finished school, I'd read authors ranging from Chalam, Ranganayakkama, Yaddanapudi Sulochana Rani, Yandamuri Veerendranth and Merlapaka Murali. Obviously having read those books, you would visualize characters and locations in a certain way and when they were not adapted well on screen, the disappointment was natural, right? And when something is done beyond our imagination like Baahubali, we would say ‘wow’. So I’ve had a fascination for films from a young age and after completing my master’s, I touched down Hyderabad. Around 2005-06, I wanted to join as an assistant director and worked towards it. On the day of a big film release in 2006, a production manager assured me that I will have a rendezvous with its director the same day so that I can land a gig as an AD but he asked me to bring alcohol while coming. I purchased it but realized that I will be doing the same activity even after joining as an AD. So I didn’t go to him. The same day I took a bus to Bengaluru and within a week, joined a job. From there, I’ve been to Malaysia and later the US,” the producer recalls in a conversation with idlebrain.com.
He goes on, “After coming to the US, I pursued a filmmaking course, dabbled in various independent films regardless of departments and worked in Telugu films shot in the US. I was the assistant director on Ninnu Kori. I wanted to work more but my work life and family responsibilities didn’t permit me. I have a good association with actor Jagapathi Babu garu; he is my well-wisher. Whenever he visits the US, he makes it a point to reach out to me. When he came to Florida in 2018-19 with his family, he rang me. Then one evening he asked me whether I’m doing films or not. ‘I want to do it but it’s not happening,’ I replied. I later pitched him two-three storylines. One line focused on a road trip from New York to California involving a father and his daughter. He liked it and asked me to develop it further. As I started working on it, I felt the moments it had won’t resonate with the Indian audience. Around the same time, my sister Sindhu Reddy asked me to hear the story of NBN.”
NBN follows Sathya (Shiva Kumar), a self-centered aspiring actor with no talent, who believes he is destined for fame. After getting a reality check from his friend over his poor acting skills, he embarks on a solo trip to understand life and its depth, landing him in Kerala. Stranded in Kadamakkudy, he meets a mysterious man named D Salman (Nithin). There’s Lekha as well, a pregnant woman and a girl child. How Sathya’s story is connected to them, what he learns and whether he ends up as an actor or not forms the story. “When director Rishikeshwar Yogi narrated these moments, I felt it was the story I was looking for. I kept the script I was working aside and started this film. We could manage to complete the shoot successfully but our journey started afterwards as a producer,” Sukumar sighs.
A friend of Sukumar from his early days in the industry watched NBN during digital intermediate and sang paeans about it, making Sukumar feel that it will be a cakewalk to get an OTT platform to buy its digital rights. “I thought my film would get to stream on OTT platform without any stumbling block but it wasn’t meant to be. The common response we got from the platforms was ‘we liked the film but it’s not fitting in our content’. Nobody rejected the film; everybody raved about it but no one came forward to purchase it. We’ve got many advises like release it in Malayalam and they will later acquire the remake rights. Then there was the OTT clause of giving it a theatrical release before they take it on their platforms. As such things were happening; I felt like taking feedback before releasing it. I’ve arranged a show in Hyderabad for friends from the industry. It was attended by Ramarao garu, who stays in the US and who is a friend of producer TG Vishwa Prasad. We got good appreciation from the screening. So impressed with the film that Ramarao garu arranged a meeting with Vishwa Prasad garu, who later saw the film, liked it and said we will release it,” Sukumar points outs, adding that around the time he was looking for OTT partners, he sent the film to different film festivals across the globe. “It got 70 plus awards but I couldn’t speak about it, fearing that people might label it as an art film.”
But didn’t he feel like directing the story himself? “I’m more experienced than Rishi but my responsibilities didn’t allow me. I’m right now working on a couple of scripts. One is set in India and the other in the US. I intend to direct one of them starting from February next year,” Sukumar reveals, hopeful that Nithin Prasanna’s turn in NBN will alter his fate after the film releases. “It’s one of the best characters in Telugu cinema of late. He will become an alternative option for many supporting roles.”
Unfortunately though, Sukumar is not in Hyderabad to promote the film, slotted for release this Friday. “There are some things which I’ve been working on for years and they have moved in the right direction now. So I can’t come down to Hyderabad. It is painful,” he laments.
Producing more content seems to be not on his wish list going forward. “Only if you have a brand name like Sukumar Writings or Maruthi presents, you have to produce films. If I have a brand and if cut a trailer, the whole industry will share it. If I don’t and if I ask 100 people to release it, no one will come forward irrespective of the fact whether it’s good or bad,” he concludes.
-NAGARAJ GOUD
