‘Human emotions never get outdated’

Satish Vegesna was confident ‘Shatamanam ...’ would work despite being an old story

Director Satish Vegesna

Director Satish Vegesna is happy but not overtly excited about his film Shatamanam Bhavati being a success at the box office. He had waited patiently for this day. A couple of his films didn’t work, but he kept his direction plans afloat even while working on screenplays for other films. He says, “Every film is a struggle. If a film is a hit, you have to do better in your next and convince people that you are no fluke and if your film doesn’t work, you will have to put in the same effort to convince people what you are worth. In my case, since I had no success to boast of, I had to prepare a story that would appeal to my producer. I had worked with Dil Raju as a screenplay writer for two of his films and because of our association, I knew his fetish for certain subjects. He liked Shatamanam Bhavati when I narrated it and called me next morning saying that the subject haunted him. The rest is history.”

The director from Tanuku, who’s done his BA, is a voracious reader of Sri Sri and Tilak’s works. He quit his job as a composer in a Telugu daily when he decided to become a writer.

Satish had no qualms that his story (

Shatamanam Bhavati ) would be outdated as it was conceived two years back, but was confident of its relevance nevertheless. “Human emotions never get outdated,” he says.

Justifying his characters relying on expression rather than a dialogue, he adds, “All the characters have less dialogue. Moreover the youth these days has no patience with melodrama. We should convey whatever we need to in a straight and candid manner, within two hours. Otherwise the audience terms us as being preachy.

The return of actors Jayasudha, Prakash Raj, Indraja and Naresh, is a boon to writers who are coming up with new stories, the director feels. “If you take an established artiste, they will perform easily. There is also the added advantage that audience already know them.”

Satish is already ready with his next subject. This time it’ll be a different genre, he , assures adding that he will announce the details soon.