Mahi V Raghav on Anando Brahma: A method to madness

With ‘Anando Brahma’, director Mahi V Raghav tries his hand at a horror comedy

Mahi V Raghav with Taapsee and other actors on the sets

Two and a half years after his road movie Patashala , director Mahi returns with Anando Brahma . Mahi is essentially a writer who wanted wanted to try comedy. With no faith in God or ghost, he wondered how he could come up with a horror comedy.

Elaborating on the concept, he says, “The concept of the film is unique; usually humans are scared of ghosts, here it is ghosts that are scared of humans. Since they are fundamentally more powerful and fearsome than humans, it has to make sense, otherwise it will again be slapstick. The characters’ flaws become their biggest strengths in adversity. The first line of the script is Devudu deyyaniki moolam okkate - bhayam. Bhayam leni chota deyyam devudu rendu undavu (The source of both God and ghost is fear; where there is no fear neither would exist) .When you tell a story in a line or two, it should intrigue you. It is a genre that hard to sell; it is very difficult to go to a producer and tell him that you want to make a horror-comedy.”

Speaking of how director Ramgopal Verma introduced Telugu audience to horror and used sound effectively, Mahi says he used sound well.

“ How was sound accentuated? 70 percent is the sound, it creates jump scare . I went through many films and learnt. Horror works differently, sound effects play a huge role in raising anticipation. .

Mahi gives a glimpse into the limitations of his characters: There is a character who has a hole in the heart. The doctor advises that till it is fixed, he should go through an extreme emotion changes. Second one is a drunkard, the third one has night blindness, and cannot hear; he plays a flute when he is scared. The other one is a split personality, an aspiring artiste. How these characters react when pitted against various circumstances involving ghosts raises humor.”

Mahi objects to stereotypes like why a ghost appears from behind, why it comes only at night, why is it ugly and why does it dwell only in a house. He had many objections.

Anando

Brahma has as its premise that humans are uglier and scarier than ghosts. Mahi’s ghosts are good in nature. When they realise they are dead, they are no longer fearful. He quips, “60 to 70 percent of the story happens in a house, a remodelled version of the

Janata Garage set . Tapsee signed this film after

Pink , she was excited with the story. She is good to work with, she is on time and does her job well.”

The film has been shot in 38 days, entirely in Hyderabad and has no songs. It also stars Vennela Kishore, Srinivas Reddy, Shakalaka Shankar and Taguboth Ramesh. Why the name Anando Brahma ? Mahi signs off, “It has a recall value, wanted to position it as a comedy”

The film will tentatively release on July 14.