Hailing from Bayyavaram near Visakhapatnam, Srinivas Gavireddy moved to Hyderabad to direct films, inspired by Puri Jagannadh’s Badri and Idiot .
After a struggle of 10 to 12 years, his directorial debut film Seetamma Andalu Ramayya Sitralu with Raj Tarun and a Malayali girl Arthana as leads, is releasing next month.
It’s been a long journey. After gaining experience with a few innocuous films, he joined as an assistant director to writer-director Madan on Pravarakhyudu, Nagaram etc; where he learnt script writing. He went on to write the story and dialogues for Madan’s latest film Garam (starring Aadi) that is due for release.
Seetamma Andalu Ramaiyya Sitralu
“I did go to Puri Jagan’s office when I came to Hyderabad, but as there were umpteen people already working with him, I knew I stood no chance. Now that I am done with my debut movie, I went to him with the teaser,” says Srinivas. He also travelled with Allu Arjun for a while, understanding scripts and how the star picked what was good. That experience was helpful. When he heard some producers were listening to stories and making movies, he visited them and gave them a narration. They liked it and Seetamma Andalu Ramayya Sitralu started rolling. “I had written this story while Garam was on the sets and kept updating it. Raj Tarun, I and director Virinchi Verma of Uyyala Jampala are all friends. I wrote this story with Raj Tarun in mind after listening to the synopsis of his projects, to make sure this film would retain its freshness,” he says.
Seetamma... is a small village film with contemporary youth. It is about the hero’s trials to win his childhood sweetheart Seetamma’s heart.
The director chose Gopi Sunder to score the music because he is good at melodies, background score would be fresh. He adds, “You will see Puri Jagan’s kind of character sketch for the hero and Madan’s typical family values in the script. There will be a small novelty. I picked the best and blended it perfectly, applying the right dose suited for Raj Tarun’s personality. Bheemavaram, Palakollu, East Godavari andaalu irragottesaamu . Vishwa who was the cinematographer of Uyyala Jampala captured the scenic beauty. The film is meant for family audience.”
