22 July 2022
Hyderabad

Debutant director Sandeep Raj’s tragic love story, Colour Photo, which had a direct OTT release on Aha, was adjudged as the Best Telugu Film under the regional language feature films category at the 68th National Film Awards for the year 2020 in New Delhi on Friday.

Starring Suhas and Chandini Chowdary in the lead roles, Colour Photo opened to unanimous acclaim as soon as it dropped on Aha. One of the producers of the film, Sai Rajesh, is naturally chuffed to bits with the national recognition. Speaking to idlebrain.com exclusively, he said, “I’m extremely happy. I’m short of words to describe what I’m going through. I’m in shock.”

Rajesh, who also wrote the film’s story, noted that he wasn’t expecting the honour to come the team’s way. “Despite the fact that the competition was less, Ala Vaikunthapuramuloo was still a popular choice. For the past couple of years, popular films were walking away with the honours. But shockingly, the jury has chosen Colour Photo. After Pellichoopulu, I guess its Colour Photo, which is a small-budgeted film. The award is a testament to the fact that if you do a good film, you will be rewarded.”

Stating that the recognition is bound to make him more responsible as a writer-director, he hoped that people who trolled him for Hrudaya Kaleyam and Kobbari Matta will now understand that a writer-director will pen stories of different kinds. On this occasion, he extended his thanks to Allu Aravind and Bunny Vaas for not just acquiring the film to stream on Aha but also promoting it on par with that of a mainstream film. “It is because of their efforts, the film penetrated into the rural pockets,” he pointed out.

On the other hand, Sandeep was watching the press conference live, curious to check whether Suriya was winning Best Actor for Soorarai Pottru but when the jury member announced the name of Colour Photo, his heart stopped for a second. “It came out of nowhere; I wasn’t expecting it all. I stopped watching the conference later. The honour is a blessing,” he told us.

How is he going to celebrate? “I feel like going out but it’s raining. I just want to sit and take a breath. Now, if I approach a hero for my second film, I will have a certain value. Such thoughts are crossing my mind,” he replied, smilingly.

His dad got his first call after the honour. “Dad doesn’t know all these things. Very cutely, he said, ‘Enti Nanna edho vachindata kadha?’ He had already got multiple congratulatory calls by then,” Sandeep revealed.

He wants to thank Sai Rajesh for giving him an opportunity when he was looking to prove his mettle as a filmmaker. “I also want to thank my best friend Suhas. He was a successful supporting actor when we started Colour Photo but then he risked his career to play the lead role. I also extend my thanks to Kaala Bhairava for his fantastic album and background score,” he noted.

Vipul Shah headed the feature film jury this year, while jury member and cinematographer Dharam Gulati announced the awards. The awards will most likely be handed out in a ceremony sometime next month in New Delhi.

-NAGARAJ GOUD