At first look, he’s a very simple-looking young guy and someone who’s even hunting for a job. But if one were to see him aiming his Canon D 6 SLR (Single Lens Reflex) at a subject or seeing him use it on a tripod, the passion in him is clearly reflected in his face.
That’s Vinod Rajendra (23), the son of an ordinary railway employee from Hindupur in Anantapur district who is now attracting attention through seven short films, an ad film on his own banner and a documentary film on the famous Lepakshi temple, that has been dubbed in English, Telugu, Tamil, Kannada, Malayalam, Hindi, Marathi, Bengali, Gujarati, Assamese and French too.
Of the seven shorts, ‘Change’, that talks of the duality between change and reality on a philosophical and spiritual note was the first to get him an award.
‘Change’ and other films including ‘Arani’ (Malayalam) and his documentary on Lepakshi have got him 9 international awards, 1 national and a regional award.
The screenplay of ‘Change’ has now been included in the Oscar Library too.
His banner ‘AaRVi Films’ on which he did an ad film himself got him the Best Production House award at the 3 Delhi Shorts International Film Festival. His other films include ‘Payanam’ which is on the relationship between siblings, ‘Exam’ about how many of his engineering classmates would prepare only a day before, ‘Fear’ depicting horror and ‘Arani’ about women empowerment. Rajendra attributes the success to teamwork.
His team of friends comprises Tejaswi, Praveen Sagar, Pavan Kumar, Ravi Kumar Santosh Reddy, Ravi Gowda, Paramesh Kalya and Praveen Prem Kumar Pai.
He has already started work on three scripts to make full-length feature films and says he has got feelers from the Telugu and Kannada film industry.
Tollywood reaches out to struggling newcomers
The year 2014 has been rather kind to struggling artists as well as newcomers in the Telugu film industry. The audience embraced novel and interesting films and gave thumbs down to some run-of-the-mill commercial ventures with big stars.
The biggest surprise was in the form of actor Nikhil starrer ‘Karthikeya’ which intrigued the viewers with its tight script and thrilling plot. ‘Prathinidhi’, which was released in the first half of the year, was widely appreciated for its fresh storyline which reflected the growing angst against the corrupt system. Debutant actor Naga Shourya established himself with a breezy romantic comedy ‘Oohalu Gusagusalade’ and actress Anjali could make a mark with Geetanjali, the latest in the new genre of horror-comedy.
The recently released spookie thriller ‘The end’ directed by Rahul Sankrityan is also getting noticed for its unique slick direction.
Mail to hyderabaddesk@thehindu.co.in
