‘Every human comes with his/her own insanities’ could well be a one-line synopsis of debutante Srividya Basawa’s Madha . The filmmaker has travelled with the story for over six years, improvising it with each draft, pitching it to multiple production houses before taking charge of the project herself, with help from her family. Last June, the former ad-director and photographer began shooting for the psychological thriller and wrapped up its post production recently. The film stars Trishna, Rahul Venkat and Anish Kuruvilla in key roles.
She terms the project an experiment. “Our thrillers are mostly attached to action, romance and humour. This is a focused film, I wanted Telugu audiences to experience something new, it’ll haunt you.” The story is about Nisha, a proof-reader in an ad-agency who’s taken to an asylum due to a man’s plot. Whethere she escapes from the asylum or not forms the storyline. Madha promises to have many twists and turns. The female-centric project comes with women-power behind the screen with the director and producer Indira Basawa’s (her mother) presence. City based cinematographer Abiraj Nair and composer Naresh Kumaran are also part of Madha .
“ Madha isn’t about the lead character Nisha alone, it talks of how everyone is crazy in their own way. I love to watch dark films and wanted to direct one too. My television stint began in 2008 with a show on pets called Cute companions . I learnt my ropes in filmmaking then, directed ads with bigger actors later. The wedding photography stint paid my bills, also gave me a strong grip on the technical aspects,” Srividya mentions.
Many newcomers
Most technicians in Madha are still finding their feet in the industry though some of them have worked on a few Malayalam, Tamil, Kannada and Telugu projects. Wasn’t it risky to bank on rank newcomers for a debut project? “It was, but I had budget constraints too. I didn’t choose people on market value, they were cast based on the character. Rahul Venkat has worked in the direction department before, Anish’s vast experience helped. Whatever I had visualised in my writing came alive in the shoot.” Despite being a newbie, the cast and crew strongly believed in her story. The sound plays a crucial element in Madha ’s storytelling, the association with Sync Cinema contributed to making this an immersive experience as did the tieup with Dolby Atmos.
They chose a 157-year-old abandoned building in Vikarabad for an asylum. The lead actors did their homework, Trishna, who was seen in the TV show Crime Patrol , lost and gained weight for the role. “She worked hard on her Telugu, was very effective in bringing my script alive. Rahul’s looks have come out well. Anish was working on Fidaa when we started, he used to take power naps enroute to Vikarabad.”
Madha team stuck to the script, but was bankrupt at times too. “There are 57 locations, 80 actors, the low budget doesn’t really show in the output.” There were quite a few challenges in making the film look good. “We got the Panther Dolly (camera) at a discounted rate, we leased equipment at lesser prices but quality was our priority. Dedicating 7-8 months for pre-production ensured our planning fell in place,” she elaborates.
Colour schemes
The asylum sequences bear an interesting colour scheme — the grey matrix, blue were used to show negativity in a broader sense. They created properties that would act as lighting source. “ We’ve ensured the right mood with the colours. Also, there are hardly any static frames, so the audiences will travel with the characters.”
Srividya is hopeful of finding a wide audience base for Madha , the appreciation of many low budget films like A..Aa has given her confidence.
