Sai Kiran's ‘Kerintha’: Eternal emotions reworked

Director Sai Kiran Adivi has fine tuned ‘Kerintha’ time and again to ensure it succeeds

Sai Kiran on the sets of ‘Kerintha’.

It looks like the long wait has been worth it for Sai Kiran Adivi. The director known for clean and sensible cinema seems super confident . His pet project Kerintha comes after Vinayakudu and Village Lo Vinayakudu . On the eve of the release he says, “I waited this long because I know it had the potential to become big. Kerintha is a genuine subject. I saw different characters in Andhra University and Hyderabad Central University when I went to see my friends; the campus appeared to me like a special universe. I weaved a story around that world.

The director says the film is centred around the three characters and their beliefs. It doesn’t fit into any particular genre; it has a little of everything.

Though there is fun in the film, there is no special track to make it look entertaining. Music is composed by Mickey J Meyer, lyrics are by Ramajogaiah Shastri. A song has been shot in Hyderabad, a bit in Tamil Nadu and one in Andaman.

Ask him how important it is to tighten the budget of a potentially good script and he avers, “Established producers like Dil Raju can manage to market it even if it goes haywire, but it is very difficult for other small budget film makers. Budget control is important but it depends on the script. Fundamentally, the budget is based on the scene that is being designed in the script. You can't wrap up a film in a small budget if there is a chase, a fleet of cars..obviously you need to spend on it. Otherwise it kills the cinema or it just doesn't happen.”

He adds, “ Kerintha has emotions that are never outdated, one can rewrite in accordance with contemporary people and incidents in the society. Emotions always remain the same, what changes is social situation.”

Speaking about reworking the film, Sai recalls, “Initially when I told Dil Raju the story, he noticed it revolved around a death sentiment. The producer had

Oh My Friend and a few other similar films that had not worked at the BO, so he wanted to ensure the concept looked fresh. Then we changed the story. The producer's team then got involved....and only then, the characters, their beliefs are the same, only the framing changed. Then after we shot for 30 days, Dil Raju felt something was still lacking, and that it was a wee bit too long, and so we started working again.”

Quite a few artistes were roped in and replaced time and again but the director insists that when a script changes, there will be a requirement in the changes from the artiste's end. Kerintha actually means a scream....by small children, those who can hardly talk, they squeal in happiness is the purest form of happiness, excitement. Sai Kiran signs off, “All sensibilities in the cinema are pure. Earlier too I would pick subjects that would trigger a discussion. There is an element of saleability to it too like Vinayakudu . Kerintha will capture the beliefs and thought process of these characters I wrote in 2001 or 2002.”