Fascinated by stories

Hussain Sha Kiran, the brain behind NTR’s latest hit ‘Nannaku Prematho’, talks about why he was drawn to cinema, stint with short filmmaking and his first feature film ‘Meeku Meere Maaku Meme’

After short filmmakers like Sujeeth Sign and Pawan Sadineni made strides into the industry, Hussain Sha Kiran is the latest to be making his debut as a feature filmmaker with ‘Meeku Meere Maaku Meme’.

The Rajahmundry-born lad, who conceived the idea of NTR-starrer ‘Nannaku Prematho’, before parting with it when director Sukumar showed interest, insists that stories fascinated him since childhood.

“My grandparents developed that fascination by narrating stories since childhood and I was automatically drawn. As I grew up, I realised that telling tales was what I enjoyed the most, and over time I understood that one way to do it was by making films,” he shares in a freewheeling conversation with Talkies.

Having grown up in Hyderabad, it was during his college days in Bheemavaram that the seed to his career was sown and he had made a firm decision to try his luck in the industry. “After completing B.Tech I returned to Hyderabad and tried to find work.

However, since I had no experience and was not carrying any reference, I couldn’t bag that ‘one’ opportunity,” he sighs. Hussain survived with many odd jobs and got into gaming, his second love. “I took a job with a gaming company in the city.

It was there that I happened to meet a lot of movie buffs. We made a short film ‘Why So Serious?’ during weekends and it was received well. We quit the company later to pursue a career in filmmaking,” he avers.

More short films like ‘Shadow’, ‘Onti Ganta’ and ‘What’s In A Name?’ followed and it was these films that brought him into the spotlight and drew ace producer Allu Aravind’s attention. In fact, Hussain reveals that the Geetha Arts head honcho promised to guide them on the feature film front.

He further points out that it was Aravind who introduced him to Sukumar. “When Sukumar garu asked me what I do, I showed him my short films. And when he asked me to share my best story, I narrated him the line of ‘Nannaku Prematho’. He liked it immensely and asked me if I can give it to him.

I had no apprehensions in doing so,” he smiles, adding, “He worked on it for nearly a year and gave it a new spin.” Hussain is ready with his first feature film ‘Meeku Meere Maaku Meme’ and he is elated that Sukumar is impressed with it.

The film features Tarun Shetty, Avantika Mishra and Jenny in the lead roles. “More than being an amazing director, Sukumar garu is an awesome person. I showed him the film last Thursday night as he was leaving to his village the immediate morning.

The screening was finished by 2 am but he discussed about it till six in the morning,” he reveals with a sense of pride. Interestingly, the film was to be funded by a new producer but things didn’t work out and it was then that Hussain and his team decided to pool in resources after speaking to Aravind.

Describing the film as a love story, he states, “The first half unfolds over a conflict between a guy (Tarun) and girl (Avantika) whilst the second half is more of how the conflict snowballs into a bigger one and its repercussions.”