1 August 2022
Hyderabad
In an exclusive interview with idlebrain.com, Vassishta speaks about how his fascinations for films grew, his association with VV Vinayak, conceiving and landing Bimbisara, Kalyanram’s performance and much more…
Growing up in a film environment meant that it was natural for Vassishta Mallidi to gravitate towards the world of cinema at a young age. His father Mallidi Satyanarayana is a renowned producer, having been in the industry from early ‘80s. He worked in the direction department to begin with before dabbling in production. Some of his bona fides include Palletoori Mogudu, Sakutumba Saparivara Sametham, Kodanda Ramudu, Bunny and Bhageeratha. “The atmosphere around home revolved around cinema and the interest developed more over time. I used to find the shooting atmosphere interesting whenever I visited sets. The fascination grew and I decided to become a director when I was in VII or VIII standard. Back then I didn’t know what a director does but I wanted to become one. As a kid, I liked narrating stories,” Vassishta tells us.
When he told his dad about his director ambitions, Satyanarayana understood where it was coming from. “He didn’t say much nor did he ever tell me to become a doctor or an engineer. He is a practical guy. He bunked college to watch films and later got into the industry and he understood that his son would do the same. He only told me one thing, ‘Don’t ever say that you know this guy or that guy. You should learn to work and be sincere towards it,’” the director recalls, adding that during his intermediate, he bunked college and joined Nandamuri Balakrishna-starrer Lakshmi Narasimha unit as an apprentice. “I used to visit sets occasionally and observe what’s happening. Later, I started discussing stories with my friends. I used to bounce ideas as well. VV Vinayak garu is my guru and I’m his Ekalavya Shisya. I didn’t work under him officially but I have known him since childhood. I used to listen to his story narrations and I learnt the art from him. He inspired me a lot, and so did his cinema. I travelled with him completely for Bunny (film) as it was our home production. I worked on (Venkatesh-starrer) Bodyguard for a while when I got an opportunity to narrate a story to Ravi (Teja) garu. He liked it but the film didn’t materialize due to various reasons. Also, I watched a lot of films of Vithalacharya, NTR garu and Singeetham Srinivas garu. I love fantasy films.”
Ideally, a first-time director prefers to make his debut with a romantic-comedy or for that matter a commercial actioner as a safe bet but Vassishta chose a socio-fantasy entertainer, which is Bimbisara, fronted by Nandamuri Kalyanram. Any particular reason? “Bimbisara is a commercial entertainer but then there is a socio-fantasy element to the story. It is not an experiment for sure. Also, the times are such that if you are not narrating something new to the audience, they aren’t coming to cinema halls.”
The thought of Bimbisara crossed his mind, courtesy time travel films like Aditya 369 and Back to the Future series. “In most of the time travel films, the lead characters travel from present to past or the future. What if a past character comes to the present triggered the idea of Bimbisara. I felt it was a crazy idea. Members of Kalyanram garu’s family played mythological roles but he didn’t. I got thrilled at the idea of seeing him in a costume drama. It was in the third week of January 2019 that I texted him, saying that I have an idea and I would like to share it with him. He was filming for Mahanayakudu back then in Hyderabad. He was impressed with the time travel element. A couple of days later, I gave him the complete narration at his office. He replied, saying that we are doing the film. Producer Hari was narrated the story later and he too gave his thumbs-up,” Vassishta reminisces.
Kalyanram understood the film would be a lavishly-mounted affair when Vassishta narrated the story. “He supported my vision by giving the technicians the project needs. We went to floors on March 10, 2020 in a specially erected darbaar set and five days later, the lockdown was announced. We had to hold the set for five months at RFC and resume again after the lockdown was lifted. The crocodile shot that you see in the trailer is a part of the darbaar set. The COVID-19 break helped us to spend more time on the prep, which made it easier for me to execute the project,” the director reveals, adding that Kalyanram only asked him to bother about the creative side of the project, not the financials. “I consider myself lucky to be launched by him and the prestigious NTR Arts.”
Didn’t he ever feel the pressure of handling such a big project laden with so many VFX? “Not, not at all. You will feel pressure if you don’t know what you are doing but I had everything on paper and all I had to do was to translate it into visuals. Once we discussed something, everyone had their task cut out. I just got what I wanted at a fast clip. The producer’s planning helped the film a great deal,” he responds.
Talking about the film—filmed for 130 days in different studios of Hyderabad— he shares that it's about Bimbisara, a ruthless king from history who believes in annexation and expanding his kingdom. “How an evil king transforms into a good human being forms the concept. The film oscillates between the present and past, with both periods getting equal space. It’s a beautiful Chandamama story. Catherine Tresa plays Princess Ira, a powerful and strong woman while Samyuktha Menon will be seen as a cop Vyjayanthi who helps Kalyanram. Srinivas Reddy will be seen as Zubeda. Like what Chitragupta is to Yama, he is the same to Bimbisara.”
Vassishta believes Kalyanram will walk away with the acting laurels, adding: “Like Akhanda was Balayya’s one-man show, Bimbisara will be Kalyanram’s one-man show. From his looks, body language and performance, everything will be fresh. Intha wild-ga untada? (Is he this wild?) If Bimbisara existed for real, he would’ve seen himself in Kalyanram,” he raves.
The director insists that the film boasts of somewhere around 3,000 to 4,000 VFX shots. “For every scene, we developed a storyboard, which alone took four-five months. If a shot had computer graphics, I would sit down for a discussion with cameraman Chota K Naidu garu, producer Hari garu and VFX in-charge Anil Paduri garu and break it down. This practice helped our work to become easier. Anil was available for us 24*7. As the studio (Advitha Creative Studios) belonged to Kalyanram garu, it worked to our advantage,” he points out.
The film’s album has been done by a mix of different composers à la Bollywood style, with MM Keeravani composing three songs, Chirranthan Bhatt a couple of numbers and Varikuppala Yadagiri scoring one number. In fact, the makers thought of signing on Keeravani for the whole soundtrack before they began filming but with the composer occupied with RRR at that time, they thought it might not work out and dropped the idea. “After the shoot commenced, we approached Chirranthan Bhatt, who after listening to the story, gave us the Eeswarudue song. He composed one more song, while Yadagiri wrote the lyrics of O Tene Palukula… and even composed it. For the background score, we needed an experienced hand, so we approached Keeravani garu. He said he will take the call after watching the film. It was for the first time he was approached to compose background music for a film whose audio he didn’t compose. He agreed to come on board after seeing the film. He worked on the project for four months and took it the next level,” Vassishta promises.
Next up, the director wants to hop genres but wants to retain the fantasy element. “It is my strong suit,” he concludes.
-NAGARAJ GOUD
