When we watch a film, we are normally carried away by the visuals, story or lead actors. It is rare that a dialogue writer gets noticed for the powerful words he has written for any film. Yet, Maasthi has gained appreciation for just that. He wrote the dialogues for Shivrajkumar’s film Tagaru , which was appreciated by audience and critics alike. Now, he is awaiting the release of Kattu Kathe , which releases on June 15. Maasthi has written the dialogues again for this film, which is directed by Raj Praveen and has television actor Surya in the lead.
According to Maasthi, the script and dialogues form the crux of any film. “Writing dialogues is easier. It is putting in words that we use to communicate with each other. Script writing is tougher as we put in the situations, place and emotions in which the conversation happens.”
He adds that while the actor “plays only one role, a dialogue writer has to put himself in the shoes of every character he is writing for to make the film powerful.”
Maasthi who took to writing out of passion said he “read plenty of comics and watched films as a child. I started writing stories in Kannada as a child and was heartbroken when I was put in an English medium school when I came to class seven. I missed writing in Kannada and could not express myself in a new language. When I entered the film industry, I was thrilled that I could once again write in Kannada, a language that I am most comfortable with.”
Talking about Kattu Kathe, he says, “The main character in Kattu Kathe is intelligence. The audience will be engrossed as the story is like solving a puzzle. While I was writing the film, I suggested to Praveen to call the film amoeba as the story takes form from the audience’s point of view. You cannot classify it in a particular genre. For instance, a comedy fan will see it as a comedy, those with a passion for thrillers will see it as a thriller and a policeman will look at it as an investigative film. The film becomes cinema from every dimension. Kudos to Praveen for making this intelligent film.”
Having worked with Duniya Suri for Tagaru and now this, Maasthi says there was a certain rawness in Tagaru , “with not much option for comedy, where as Kattu Kathe is loaded with comedy”.
The writer, who started off writing a short story Ballpen , for which he has won a few awards and nominations, also worked on the film Kaddipudi with Duniya Suri featuring Shivarajkumar. Right now he is busy with Panchatantra , which he has written the story for and is being directed by Yograj Bhat. His next venture is Popcorn Monkey Tiger again with Suri.
“I plan to write a less in the future as I don’t want to become mechanical when it comes to writing a story, but want to give every word enough thought so that it becomes powerful,” says Maasthi.
