The camera focuses on Swamiji (Tagubotu Ramesh) as he calls out the names Kanchana, Nagavalli and Chandramukhi. As the audience sit glued to their seats watching scenes of the recent movie Life After Death (directed by Gangadhar Rajrapu), the three ghosts arrive with an agenda. Not anticipating this kind of response, Swamiji is perplexed and scares the ghosts by showing them a photograph. Except for a few entertaining scenes like these, the horror drama was a spine chilling affair. While the film evoked thrills and chills among the audience, it was a big moment for one of the movie’s crew members Mastan Vali. A short filmmaker, Mastan says the opportunity to work in a feature film is a new beginning. In facta few youngsters associated with short films are hoping to make a mark on the big screen.
Mastan calls Life After Death a learning experience. “In short films, the director’s world is small. It is a good exposure but one gets to understand movie making better with a feature film,” he points out. The director talks about learning the technical aspects: “One is not exposed to the nuances of technicalities in detail. Be it the budget, planning for shots or learning about the length of scenes… it’s a different world.” In fact Life After Death was shot in 20 days and Mastan says they passed off as a breeze.
Another short horror film Yevaru , directed by Balachander, gave visibility to Anvika. The same team is making a yet- to-be-titled feature film, based on the usual suspects of love and romance. “A big screen has big audience and one notices the work of the actors. Having said that, my short film Yevaru earned me a lot of appreciation for my acting,” she says. Now, she is looking forward to January 9 when her another short film Devadas Ki Pellaindi , directed by Harsha Annavarapu will be released.
It would not be an exaggeration to say that Ashok Reddy eats, sleeps and breathes movies. With an MBA degree from Australia, Ashok was working in a cushy job in Bengaluru. But his craze for cinema was such that he travelled every weekend to Hyderabad, non-stop from 2009. “For three years continuously, I never missed a Saturday to come to Hyderabad,” says Ashok. His trips had a mission: he would go planning and shooting his short films. In 3+4+ to Jainie (a 57-minute film ) Ashok saw his dreams come true. Now, buoyed by the success of Jainie , he wrote a script for a horror film titled O Stree Repu Raa . Having quit his job, he is now devoted to movie making. “The writing has come out well so we decided to turn it into a full length feature film,” he says excitedly. Starring Sruthi Maul, Vamsi Krishna Kondur, Deeksha Pant (of Kavvinta and Gopala Gopala fame) and Ashish Gandhi ( Pataas ), the independent film O Stree... is based on a common expression during the ’80s. Mastan, who is working as an assistant director to O Stree … says another learning experience awaits him.
Talking about the challenges faced by short filmmakers, Ashok says, “The problems begin from the finances. Since it is hard to find a producer, the director has to put in his own money.
Then the search for actors begins. As most artistes work for free, they have their own moods. Then on the sets there will be other issues to deal with. In feature films, the budget is big, so planning is vital. The artists’ co-ordination is a challenge and the director should have an eye for visualisation and story telling,” he states. Ashok talks fondly of his association with Pavan Rachepalli who has written dialogues for his films.
All in all the New Year ushers in new hopes and dreams for short filmmakers, who hope to realise their dreams on the movie screen.
