Blending art and commerce
Y. SUNITA CHOWDHARY
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S.V. Krishna Reddy returns with his trademark mix of entertainment and sensitisation with `Sarada Saradaga' this Sankranti.
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RICH REPERTOIRE S.V. Krishna Reddy
On a flickering movie screen, a cast of characters breaks into song and dance. Such are the conventions of the Telugu film industry - in which every movie is filled with spectacular singing and dancing. Critics might dismiss such shenanigans as mere entertainment'.
Yet the work of Telugu film director Krishna Reddy blends art and commerce in a manner that is vital, provocative, wildly entertaining and socially conscious. Take for instance Vinodam, Pellam Voorelthe or Hungama, all of them were hilarious enough but at the same time one couldn't miss the underlying morality.
A creative director whose career spans 15 years, SVK became known for taking chances on emerging talent, often to great effect. He says, "I prefer bringing new actors to the medium, people who either hadn't been identified or those who had been identified to play only a certain kind of role. I believed an audience would get more involved with a picture if they were watching an artist they hadn't seen before or hadn't seen in that same sort of role over and over again. If you bring in a suitable actor the chances of the film winning is much more."
Ask him if his favourite actor is Srikant who is regular in his films, he nods, "most of the actors these days do not have an attachment with the film , they have become very commercial. Srikant on the other hand vibes well, understands the medium and submits himself to the director. He is a hassle free actor."
A scene from 'Sarada Saradaga'.
What's the secret to a great performance? Does age of an actor matter? "Not at all. Didn't you enjoy watching Rajnikant dance with Nayantara, didn't you enjoy NTR singing a duet with a very young Sridevi? If the performance is great, audience will forget everything. The truth is these actors who sustain and are so endearing to audiences and as professionals, whatever they're playing, they're making the audience believe them. Every generation has its own treasures; I've only mentioned a few. The greats don't slough anything: Every line of dialogue gets all their concentration and all their energy. The consummate actors never cease to try roles he's never done before, and they inject them with humour and intelligence. There are very few people who can intimidate and also show vulnerability and idiosyncrasies."
As a director do you improvise on your taking? "A lot of things have changed. The music, presentation of the subject and so on. These days we're capturing things fast. I watch lot of films and make it a point to note down something that interests me. I think, move and dish out films according to the trend.
"Direction too is a learning process. My basic aim is to make people forget their worries and time when they watch my films be it comedy or melodrama. I want to make films that are engaging and engrossing. I have made films with wafer thin themes that ran for 175 days. Vinodam is one of them and has been made into No Entry in Hindi and that too has become a big hit."
SVK is a mental athlete. Constantly working on stories, reading his actors mind and extracting performances, improvising on each take, he is all set to release his next entertainer Sarada Saradaga. So go ahead and enjoy the uproariously funny film on Sankranti.
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Entertainment
Bangalore
Chennai and Tamil Nadu
Delhi
Hyderabad
Thiruvananthapuram
