During his stint as a chairman of the jury at the International children’s film fest, Hyderabad two years ago, filmmaker Allani Sreedhar got to watch the best films made for youngsters across the globe. That window took him back to his early days in the industry, when he had orchestrated the critically acclaimed play Nannagaru ostunnaru baboi in the 80s. A friend’s suggestion, ‘ Meeru kooda oka children’s film theeyali ’ prompted him to make Doo Doo Dhee Dhee recently. Often nicknamed the ‘biopic’ specialist with films Gautham Buddha and Komaram Bheem to his credit, the director found the experience of making a children’s film rejuvenating. Doo Doo Dhee Dhee , starring three child actors and actor Bhoopal Reddy prompts the younger generation to not lose sight of one’s roots at the cost of technological progress.
The director voices his concern, “Children are put under undue pressure for no fault of theirs. They carry heavy bags, are given more homework, sent to tuitions at a time when they should play. The absence of joint families has minimised the role of grandparents in looking after children. This creates a void in a child’s life who leans on technology to overcome loneliness. My story talks of how a grandfather makes his grandchildren connect with nature in a trip to their native town.” Sreedhar insists he doesn’t want to preach or accuse anyone; his intention is only to provoke a thought. Incidentally, the film’s title is the children’s nickname for a hill in the town.
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He underscores the relevance of this film in times of Blue Whale, where children fall prey to online perils. “We haven’t shown or discussed the content that children watch in the film. There’s a dialogue that talks of how children are made to watch Youtube to be fed, are bought video games and smart phones to make them study and do their daily chores. As a producer, I felt it’s a form of a corporate social responsibility to have touched this theme; I wish many filmmakers write stories with children in mind.”
Having written, directed and produced the film, Sreedhar held auditions across the city to find his actors. Unlike mainstream films, he says the children in the film speak their lines suitable to their age. Children are among the easiest people to work with, he states. “Children are natural actors sub-consciously. They appear like caricatures only when they’re made to act like adults and are fed with melodrama.” On reuniting with his Komaram Bheem actor Bhoopal Reddy, he says, “I wanted an actor who would underplay and be natural on-screen. He only had to play his real self here, unlike in Komaram Bheem where he relied on observation and research.”
Sreedhar has taken the film to several schools, where children were a test audience who helped him improvise the output. “Ultimately a children’s film is made with them as a target audience.” Shouldn’t it also appeal to parents who bring them to theatres? “Not necessarily,” he says. “Every other film is made for adults, and children accompany them to theatres. Why can’t parents see this film as an opportunity to rekindle their childhood memories?” Happily for him, the film has made it to the nominations at the soon-to-be held International Children’s Film fest. Shot over a month’s span at Gangadesapalli (a village in Warangal), and running a little over 90 minutes,
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