Debut director Shree Karthick on how his Tamil-Telugu bilingual ‘Kanam’/‘Oke Oka Jeevitham’ stemmed from private loss and have become a sci-fi drama
Debut director Shree Karthick on how his Tamil-Telugu bilingual ‘Kanam’/‘Oke Oka Jeevitham’ stemmed from private loss and have become a sci-fi drama
A narrative that explores the bond between a mom and son throughout childhood with a touch of remorse as a grown up and an intent to return in time and alter one thing, with music serving as a foil. Director Shree Karthick says his debut function movie — Oke Oka Jeevitham in Telugu and Kanam in Tamil — is all this and extra. “It is an emotional story at its core, but also racy and a fun sci-fi drama,” says the Chennai-based director, over cellphone. Starring Sharwanand and Ritu Varma within the lead, the movie has Amala Akkineni portraying the mom and Nasser as a scientist who facilitates time journey.
The soul of the movie
The ‘Amma’ tune, written by the late Sirivennela Seetharama Sastry in Telugu and Uma Devi in Tamil, is the soul of the movie. Karthick reminisces, “Sastry garu was moved by the story. He said he wanted to take time and write something special for the film. He wrote the lyrics over nine months.”
The songs composed by Jakes Bejoy have helped rustle up enthusiasm for the movie and Karthick says they’d a two-pronged technique: “One was the music to suit the emotional layer of the story and the other was ‘synth’ music, as we termed it, for the sci-fi portions. We composed quite a bit using synthesisers.”
The idea of time journey has been explored in Telugu and Tamil cinema, with Aditya 369, Netru Indru Naalai and 24. For Karthick who misplaced his mom in 2014 and was struggling to deal with the loss, this story stemmed from the void — the protagonist going again in time to see his mom appeared like a pure development. He wrote the story and screenplay channelling the loss and ache however was acutely aware that it must be enjoyable and fascinating: “I consciously avoided the oft-repeated templates used in sci-fi films. This story will also explore the consequences when one tries to meddle with time.”
Karthick was born to a Telugu mom and a Tamil father. Having grown up in Chennai, he speaks Telugu laced with Tamil. He meant his debut function movie to be a Tamil undertaking, however producers SR Prabhu and Prakashbabu of Dream Warrior Pictures sensed the scope for a bilingual and it grew greater.
Vennela Kishore, Sharwanand and Priyadarshi
| Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
Sharwanand, a widely known title in Telugu cinema, has often labored in Tamil movies — Naalai Namadhe, Engeyum Eppodhum and JK Enum Nanbanin Vaazhkai. Karthick has identified Sharwanand and had been pitching tales for a couple of years: “He liked this one and was also keen to do it in Tamil.” The undertaking marks Amala’s return to Tamil cinema after the 1991-film Karpoora Mullai. In Telugu, she was final seen in Sekhar Kammula’s Life is Beautiful a decade in the past and appeared in a fleeting cameo in Manam.
“Sharwa, Ritu Varma, Amala ma’am and Nasser sir feature in both the languages. We cast Priyadarshi and Vennela Kishore as friends in Telugu and Satish and Ramesh Thilak in the Tamil version,” says Karthick, including that the buddies will not be sidekicks to the hero. “There is a definite arc to their characters; they add humour but there is also conflict and resolution in their lives.”
For the Telugu dialogues, Karthick took the assistance of writer-director Tharun Bhascker, whose work he immensely favored in Pelli Choopulu.
Ritu Varma and Sharwanand
| Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
Karthick phrases Kanam/Oke Oka Jeevitham as his “dream project” for which he labored with “a dream team” that features his shut buddies cinematographer Sujith Sarang, editor Sreejith Sarang and music composer Jakes Bejoy: “We are like brothers. It has taken me years to make a feature film, but they are all established names. They knew my mother and the bond I shared with her, so this project is special for them as well.”
After finishing his B.Tech from SRM Valliammai Engineering College in Chennai, Karthick pursued dancing and was eager to be a dancer. “I was told that I was good with expressions and should try acting,” Karthick remembers. He did a couple of roles however was not proud of the alternatives. “I began to write stories to create my own opportunities. I realised that writing came more naturally to me than acting. I wanted to be a storyteller.”
Shree Karthick with Amala Akkineni on the units
| Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
He based the corporate Madboys Creatives and commenced making brief and advert movies. The course of helped him hone his expertise as a author and director. Kanam/Oke Oka Jeevitham is a take a look at for Karthick: “I have a few more stories, but I want to see how the audiences receive my first film.”
Source: www.thehindu.com