Titles based on songs have been popular in Telugu cinema since the 70s. For director Mahesh Upputuri though, who’s coming up with the film Snehamera Jeevitham this week, it was an opportunity to rekindle nostalgia. His earlier outings Jagame Maaya and Paddanandi Premalo Mari too showcased his love for song titles. What gives Snehamera Jeevitham (as a title) more relevance is its 1982 setting. It was an opportunity that the director used to unleash great entertainment value with timely political, film and literary references in the Mandapeta Telugu dialect. “Songs are an apt way to summarise a theme of the film. I attribute it to my love for music, I grew up listening to songs of ANR, NTR,” the filmmaker says.
While Mahesh’s first film Jagame Maya couldn’t find a release, his next film, the Varun Sandesh-starrer Paddanandi Premalomari lost out to slew of releases on the same day. Though he earned kudos for the film’s technical values, his dialogues and its central theme, bad timing let him down. “The major change I’ve seen in myself as a filmmaker over these projects is my ability to translate what I’ve written on paper onto the celluloid. In the past, I relied on heavy-duty dialogues to do the job. I now understand how to communicate the core of my plot better. In Snehamera Jeevitham , you’ll see more visual metaphors,” he promises.
In a bid to lend authenticity to the film's 80s setting, he used props, the good-old ambassador cars, cycles, the trunk-call system, STD booths, references to politicians and actors besides advertisements as a few indicators. Given that he had a limited budget on hand, he couldn’t experiment beyond a certain point. As the film aims to be an ode to frendship, Mahesh weaved the plot with many personal references. The story reportedly throws light on a few communication gaps that destroys relationships. Prema Desam remains the director’s favourite film while dealing with this theme.
The lack of a big commercial star to nudge the film ahead doesn't bother him. Content-oriented films thriving in Telugu cinema now is proof that audience considers it more important than a big or a small hero, he says. Sivabalaji and Rajeev Kanakala are known more as actors over heroes, the lack of baggage came in handy for the director. “These are two stubborn, strong characters that every spectator would relate with. Even before I pitched the story to them, I looked at it as a character-oriented film that needed strong performances and not an aura surrounding them. They’ve taken forward the essence of the story beautifully,” Mahesh mentions that their off-screen camaraderie was an added advantage that reflected on-screen. That they were open-minded to understand, re-work and improvise on sets helped Mahesh’s cause.
Though many films deal with time-travel and two timeframes, not often do you see an entire film set in a single phase. How's a story set in 1982 still relevant in 2017? “This is a story that's universal and more of a nostalgic peek into such times. The visuals, the writing is upto the current-day scenario,” he replies.
As many as nine Telugu films await a release this week, the director doesn't find this an issue. “Every film will have its own audience,” he's confident.
