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Writer-director Vivek Athreya opens up on the Nani-Nazriya Telugu movie ‘Ante Sundaraniki’, which he phrases as a recent social commentary
Writer-director Vivek Athreya opens up on the Nani-Nazriya Telugu movie ‘Ante Sundaraniki’, which he phrases as a recent social commentary
Vivek Athreya, the Telugu writer-director who debuted with the romance drama Mental Madhilo and adopted it up with the black comedy Brochevarevarura, is without doubt one of the promising new voices of Telugu cinema. His new Telugu movie Ante Sundaraniki, a conversational drama starring Nani and Nazriya, has caught consideration with its humour-laced promos. During this interview amid finalising the movie’s submit manufacturing, Vivek asserts that whereas the movie seems like a humorous interfaith romance, there may be much more at play.
Ante Sundaraniki, which will likely be dubbed in Tamil as Adede Sundara and in Malayalam as Aha Sundara, revolves round two worlds – that of Sundar’s (Nani) Hindu Brahmin family the place conventional, at occasions superstitious, practices rule, and Leela Thomas’s (Nazriya) Christian family the place the daddy has the final phrase.
“I did not go to film school. I grew up watching films of K Vishwanath and Mani Ratnam and listening to Ilaiyaraaja’s music. All that helped me understand storytelling and music.”Vivek AthreyaWriter-director
Vivek refrains from revealing the central battle, via which he intends to take the audiences abruptly: “This film is the story of Sundar and Leela. We are not only looking at the portions essayed by Nani and Nazriya as adults but also at things that occurred in their childhood which are crucial to the story.”
Social commentary
The concept, he recollects, got here up almost 5 years in the past: “I thought the core issue and the story would make for an exciting, contemporary social commentary.” He was conscious that he needed to tread rigorously with out hurting non secular sentiments. Vivek’s writing is often layered and has sufficient room for humour, even when he discusses critical points. In Brochevarevarura, beneath the crackling comedy was a coming-of-age story of mates, a younger lady studying to claim herself, mending of a father-daughter relationship, and extra. “Humour comes naturally to me. I cannot hold a serious conversation for more than a few minutes. That tendency seeps into my writing as well.”
Nani and Nazriya as Sundar and Leela within the movie
Vivek had initially pitched one other story that might require an ensemble solid to Mythri Movie Makers. When the manufacturing home requested if he had a narrative that might swimsuit Nani, Vivek put forth the thought of Ante Sundaraniki. The actor cherished the script and got here on board. Both Vivek and Nani thought somebody like Malayalam actor Nazriya could be good because the main girl, Leela: “Then Nani suggested we approach Nazriya.”
Nazriya had not labored in any Telugu movie till then and didn’t know the language. Vivek, nonetheless, knew that Nazriya may perceive Tamil. Having labored in IBM, Chennai, for 5 years, Vivek is fluent within the language. He narrated the story to Nazriya over a Zoom name. “The script is non-linear. Nani suggested that I take a linear approach to the narration. She reacted with enthusiasm when I began narrating and I went ahead and gave her a detailed, non-linear narration that lasted a few hours.”
Vivek Athreya
| Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
With the assistance of a Telugu tutor, Nazriya learnt the Telugu dialogues and even dubbed for the movie. Vivek had script studying periods with Nani and the remainder of the solid – Rohini, Nadiya, Naresh, Harshavardhan, Rahul Ramakrishna and others – earlier than the movie went on flooring in summer time 2021.
Music as storytelling machine
Ante Sundaraniki marks the second collaboration of the director with music composer Vivek Sagar. The two determined to make use of conventional devices to tell apart the worlds of the protagonists, however avoid cliched approaches akin to partaking a choir for a Christian household.
Among the songs, ‘panchakattu’ rendered by Carnatic classical singer Aruram Sairam, is a spotlight. “I am a big fan of Aruna Sairam,” says the director, who picks her fusion numbers with Agam band amongst his favourites.
Vivek likes to make use of songs as a storytelling machine. He attributes his eager sense of music and storytelling to having grown up watching motion pictures directed by Ok Vishwanath and Mani Ratnam and listening to Ilaiyaraaja’s music. He remembers listening to songs of Swati Kiranam, whereas rising up in Guntur. “There was a time when I listened to these songs every morning,” says Vivek, a self-taught filmmaker who absorbed every part he may watching movies made by these doyens.
Nazriya and Nani within the movie
The music of Ante Sundaraniki, he explains, was designed with an method of the probability of a veteran like MS Viswanathan composing for a recent movie that has nostalgic worth, paying homage to the childhood of Sundar and Leela’s childhood within the Nineteen Eighties or 90s.
Vivek’s dad and mom, who labored in India Post, have been additionally ardent film buffs: “I never had to hide that I went away to watch a film. My dad would ask me about the film and if I said that it was good, he would plan to watch it soon.”
Vivek’s brush with writing for cinema occurred whereas learning B.Tech and later at IBM. “Some of my colleagues were learning the guitar. I took to writing and learning filmmaking during weekends. I cannot say I was an avid reader, but I enjoyed the writing process.”
Vivek works in isolation whereas writing a script and later , his workforce will get to weigh in. He prefers to lock within the dialogues and pre-visualisation earlier than the movie goes on flooring.
Vivek emphasises that like his earlier tasks, Ante Sundaraniki can also be a script-driven movie: “It is the most important aspect of a film for me. I cannot move forward unless I have a script that I am convinced about”
Source: www.thehindu.com
