Geetha Govindam is a rom-com and a family drama based on an ideology clash and misunderstanding. How the lead pair realise their faults is the story, shares its director Parasuram on the eve of its release. The 12th century poet Jayadeva’s Gita Govinda describes the relationship between Lord Krishna and Radha that is platonic. A simialr purity is seen in this film story but there are a lot of misunderstandings and disturbances, cites the director. According to him a real-life incident sparked the idea of Geetha Govindam . “The movie doesn’t revolve around one person, the heroine enters hero’s life and the footage they both get is equally important. Vijay Deverkonda appears innocent but, lands himself in a problem and is constantly trying to absolve himself of guilt. Rashmika represents a common girl in society, her mind set is very relatable,” says Parasuram.
Parasuram admits to have felt apprehensive over the title of the movie. With Arjun Reddy ’s success Vijay gained a bold and a no-nonsense image. However, Vijay and the producers supported him and encouraged him to go ahead with a soft title. “My target is to see that the audience gets past a hangover of a character called Arjun Reddy and start accepting his role in Geetha Govindam .”
Parasuram says, “I had narrated the story to almost every heroine in the industry but I guess Rashmika was destined to do it.”
Parasuram comes across as a level-headed person. He says he doesn’t nurse an ego and doesn’t delve too much on something that is annoying and his humorous bent of mind is reflected in his writing and characters that he weaves. He also got along well with Manikandan, the cinematographer who, Parasuram says, was very flexible with his work and cooperative. He points out, “Mani knows when to have a grip and when to let go and doesn’t complain of fatigue during tight schedules.”
Inkem Inkem Kavali has been a successful number and gathered at least 27 million hits. Recalling the recording of the song, Parasuram says, “It suddenly struck me that I needed something more in the voice and asked for Sid Sriram. The difficult part is he lives in the USA and we collaborated on WhatsApp and voice messages over a week. Adiga Adiga would have been just another normal song but for Sid Sreeram; there is a nice metallic tone in his voice and he sang two numbers in the first half of the film.” Parusuram says he has fetish for being perfect. He basically got a lot of time — at least nine months — to do the detailing, since the script was finalised one and a half year back. He had to work on the character and songs. All of them are montages and were shot in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh. He adds, “True, till the last minute I try to better my story whatever way I can. It is like returning to garnish a dish with coriander or trying something different for dressing.”
Sounding confident about the film’s outcome, Parusuram says, “The film will be a sure shot hit, there is no question of a misfire. There are many exciting elements. In the first five minutes of the film you will see Vijay as an entirely new person and forget Arjun Reddy.” Regarding his future projects, he says, “I feel nothing is permanent and I don’t have strategies for work or survival. I am a little weak on social media but I have been pushed to create an account for movie promotions. I have a person to handle it but I nevertheless try to update myself. It is quite a task.”
