Meet the ‘High Priestess’

As Amala Akkineni gears up for her web series début, she discusses the possibilities of the digital medium and working with like-minded people

Amala Akkineni

The usually reticent Amala Akkineni took everyone by surprise when she joined Twitter a few days ago. This enhanced social media presence comes in the wake of her first web series, High Priestess . Written and directed by Pushpa Ignatius, the eight-episode series will stream on Zee 5 from April 25.

We meet at Amala’s office at Annapurna International School of Film and Media (AISFM), Hyderabad. The media blitzkrieg for High Priestess is yet to begin. At the mention of it, Amala says with a twinkle in her eyes, “I will be running away before that. Nag wanted me to join him, since he’s going to be away all summer.” Nagarjuna is in Portugal shooting for his film Manmadhudu 2 , directed by Rahul Ravindran.

Amala’s acting projects have been rather occasional, as she multi-tasks with responsibilities that include being the director of AISFM and overseeing Blue Cross of Hyderabad. She hasn’t done a Telugu film since

Life is Beautiful (2012), but 2018 saw her in a cameo in

Karwaan (Hindi).

Digital platform

High Priestess is a different ball game. Amala and Pushpa go back a long way: “Whenever I’ve visited Chennai in the last five years, we would meet for a meal at Amethyst, Anokhi or one such quaint café and talk about each other’s work. Pushpa has a decade of experience as an ad filmmaker. She once told me that she’s writing something with me in mind. I thought she was joking. But later she pitched High Priestess , wanting me to essay the role of a psychic and tarot reader. I liked the script, and it’s a role you don’t come across everyday.”

‘GoT’ fan

• Amala’s favourite shows include Game of Thrones and Grey’s Anatomy . She applauds the writing and production values in international series and says she’s excited about the digital platform, especially for her students and alumni. “Nag and I often talk about it, how a billion screens of opportunities are opening up,” she remarks.

Pushpa, producer Krishna of Tribal Horse Entertainment, cinematographer Soundarrajan and the rest of the team was formed, including actors Kishore, Varalaxmi Sarathkumar and Brahmaji. Zee 5 came aboard as well. They began shooting in January this year. Her 15-day shoot, she recalls, was intense as they shot from 7 am to 10 pm, working within the stipulated time to not overshoot the budget. “The hard work on the sets and the acting process is no different from that of cinema, but the characters can be fleshed out more. In cinema everything is trimmed to fit into two hours; here there’s scope to explore the dimensions of a character and say more,” Amala observes. She lauds Pushpa for her clarity of thought and mentions that she’s a tarot reader. Amala herself was intrigued by psychic concepts earlier: “We all go through phases; in one such phase, I was interested to know about the psychic phenomenon,” she says.

Pushpa Ignatius and Amala Akkineni

Belief systems

The High Priestess trailer hints at the presence of a supernatural element. Amala notes that when such topics are dealt with, there’s bound to be a situation of death in the story. “We come across situations in life when people say something insensitive or inappropriate in a situation of death. I felt that in my role as a mature psychic, I should touch upon such issues of addressing things with sensitivity. Pushpa added those touches to the dialogues.”

Talking of death and sensitivity, we hark back to Karwaan where she holds a prayer meet that helps put things in perspective for some of the key characters. Not many know that Amala hosts prayer meets in Hyderabad as well. Those who know her well, talk about feeling calmer and enriched by her sessions. Mention that and Amala says, “Let me put it this way. A whole generation is moving away from highly ritualistic practices into a more thinking, spiritual process. By spiritual, I don’t refer to a cult or a guru. In your heart, you continue to feel the presence of people who’ve been dear to you even after they’ve left.” She looks at a photograph of her parents-in-law, Akkineni Nageswara Rao and Annapurna, and continues, “I was extremely close to my mother-in-law and after she, and later my father-in-law passed away, I continue to feel their presence. When anyone in the family has a moment of achievement, we say that the elders will be proud of us. So when you feel that connection, you naturally want to send a prayer to them. When I read something like that in a script ( Karwaan ), I know I’m working with like-minded people who believe that religion and rituals shouldn’t divide us.”

Amala Akkineni and Kishore in a still from the web series

Amala is a sounding board for the scripts written by her students. Periodically, AISFM organises a writers’ hub and representatives of OTT platforms are invited to mentor emerging writers. “I urge my students to bring in depth and purpose into their writing, which will happen with life experiences. The High Priestess experience helps me understand what more I need to bring to the film school. A story has to have several layers to sustain audience interest in each episode.”

Probe her on High Priestess and if the series will have an open ending, with the scope to continue further and Amala guffaws, “I will not let the cat out of the bag.” Meanwhile, she’s shown interest in a new idea for a web series but says it’s a long journey before it materialises, and she will take a call at the right time.