As a student he successfully made two short films that were selected to be showcased at Vancouver. Titled Zindagaani and The Daring Tourist, the films were succinct, poignant tales of life’s challenges. Now a fresh graduate, Akshat Ajay Sharma is all set to see his directorial debut hit city screens soon. Titled Singham123 , the film has been produced by Vishnu Manchu and sees Akshat, who graduated from AISFM last year don the director’s hat.
“ Singham123 is a spoof comedy and it was a great experience and I’ve had the opportunity to work with a great team,” says Akshat, who says that he never really expected to land his first directorial venture so soon out of college. “I’ve been working with MB Corp since I passed out of college and was working on a documentary, but I didn’t think I’d get an opportunity to direct a film so soon, especially since I am from a non-Telugu background. The story and screenplay of this film has been written by Vishnu Manchu, and he called me and asked me to direct it. It came as a pleasant surprise. He was a huge part of the shoots and it helped to have him around,” says Akshat, who is originally from Bareilly.
The young filmmaker confesses that Singham123 is starkly different from the kinds of films he had made while in college. “Transitioning wasn’t a matter of concern as such. The script was in Telugu and I fortunately had a lot of help in that department,” he says, adding that he now understands most of the Telugu jargon, “enough to get by during shoots although it wasn’t really a barrier.”
According to Akshat, going to film school taught him to work under any conditions. “I also started working and acting in theatre. Acting for theatre opened up direction for me and helped me understand how to treat an actor for a particular character. Both film school and theatre helped prepare me for the film industry. Also I had tremendous help from Vishnu Manchu and Mohan Babu for giving me the opportunity as well as during the shoots while giving me creative freedom,” he says.
While Akshat is keen on trying his hand with different genres of cinema, he is currently gearing up for the release of Singham123 , which is slated for release by the first week of June.
Indie foray
Over the years Subhakar has carved a niche for himself in films and theatre with six independent films, some feature-length films and a three hour play apart from making corporate films. The self-taught writer-director of independent films however, with his thirst for learning decided to make one last ‘prep film’ titled Darwin’s Daughters to help enrich him to take up bigger budgeted films on a bigger canvas for a theatrical release.
“The film was originally conceived, designed and made by me for the sole purpose of learning the craft by working as a one-man-crew. But the student film itself turned out to be decent enough for a limited release,” says Subhakar adding, “ Darwin’s Daughters is about survival. It is an urban romance between a man and woman at an apparent level, but the philosophy that drives the ordinary story is the Darwinistic fact that no matter what happens to one, one must aim to simply survive it all”
The film stars actors from National School of Drama and will be released only in Hyderabad for one week alone and in just a single theater. Talking about the short release, Subhakar says, “ Darwin’s Daughters is a student film that found an accidental release. It has become an officially indie film because the length came out to be 90 minutes. It is an urban romance treated in an understated manner. Inox is prepared to give me a single trial-run show. Any bigger release would require me to generate enough buzz through PR and national advertising to fill all the theatres competing with bigger-budgeted films. I am not game for it yet. Hence the one-show-one-week-one-city reality.”
The writer-director who has also worked in theatre confesses that he still finds cinema more exciting. “I love film more and prefer film over theatre. The only excitement I noticed in theatre is what the actor experiences - one performs the whole story without a single camera cut, in front of live audience, show after show that allows experimentation and for the pleasure of audience minds that are conditioned by media and culture that repeatedly stated that theatre is superior to film. I find film to be superior for the facts that making of a film can be controlled far better for a lot more effective communication. Also, it only helps that film is forever,” he admits.
Darwin’s Daughters is slated to release on June 26 and as of now Subhakar is focussed on promoting it online. “I’ve been promoting in solely on Facebook, except for a few post card size ads in city supplements. I’m relying on the film’s facebook pages to reach audiences and I did the still photography and poster designs myself,” says the one-man team.
