February 17, 2008
Hyderabad

Blogging...
Many friends did ask me to write a blog on the happenings of my Film produced under the banner of Innovision Cinema. I would have loved to but it would have taken away half the charm of watching it straight(minus the blogs i.e.), I felt. So I made the decision of giving it a 6 week publicity blitz before the release and chose not to write earlier. Even otherwise, I couldn't have possibly written the blog 'cos once you are exec-producing and directing at the same time, you don't get time to pee, let alone writing your shoot experiences.

Its a different story now. I am happy to announce that Innovision Cinema has finished shooting the talkie part of its first Production and we canned a couple of songs as well. It is a proud moment for us. For me, for Kishore, for Raghu, for Venkatesh and for Sathya, my very dear friend and beloved creative collaborator.

The first day of the shoot was scary. Scary not because I wasn't prepared for the shoot. Scary because I woke up to the sounds of rain. It was 5:30 am and it was raining hard. Somehow, my first instinct was to call my dad who calmly said, "heavens have opened for you, its a good sign!", his was an affirmative tone. It was just that, a blessing from the Gods above, I realized very soon as the rain stopped by 6:30 and we were able to shoot. It was a relatively smooth shoot minus any hiccups and we drove back to the office to end the day with a few bottles of wine. I still remember the loud Al Pacino-like 'whoa' that came from my heart after I okayed the first shot that we filmed on Megha. It is a high, actualizing your thoughts on Film. Its a dream that has sprung to come true, finally!

Every Film has a hundred challenges and a hundred more stories to tell, when its own story is under production. Mine is no different. I lost a key partner the day I signed Nikhil for my Film. He wanted me to sign a known face. Nikhil wasn't at that time, as 'Happy Days' was still under production but my guts told me to sign Nikhil after I saw his audition. His cute-son act was spellbounding for us, to say the least. Plus, I was willing to place my bets on Sekhar Kammula, my idol. A Film on college going kids with Sekhar's sensibilities, could not possibly go wrong, was my argument. It was the right argument. Happy Days became a sensation and Dil Raju and yours truly are the biggest benefactors, pun intended, Sekhar! My 'sudi' finally turned, as they say in our Telugu.

The impact of that decision I have come to realize only after I started shooting outdoors. Teenagers throng to see Nikhil and he is generally flooded with hundreds of requests for autographs. He obliges all of them with patience, he is a good polite kid. There were about 300 people standing on the road and watching us shoot when we were doing a song on Nikhil and Megha at BHEL. It was a thrill.

There are many other thrills, and I will share them with you as and when I do get time to write. And I must tell you that we are planning an April release and we don't even have the right title yet. I did come up with a few, but they are all put under the scanner and mercy of the committe at the Film Chambers which decides which title we would get. Rules don't bend easily for us small-timers you see!

While the chamber is flexing its muscles, I ask of you to suggest me a prospective and bright title for my Film, the synopsis of which you could read at this hyperlink. The title should reflect youth, it should have a nice sounding about it and preferably be very fresh.

What do I get? you may ask, my friends! Not much, a dinner with Nikhil and Megha. And its on me! Trust me guys, they are two lovely kids to hang out with. So keep it coming!

Suggest a title by sending an email to
[email protected]