A dramatised tale of dream chasers 

It may not yet be Chennai or Bengaluru where film makers from outside the industry manage to crowd fund their ventures or manage to break into the big screen format. But Nizam city is showing promise with a recent crop of Telugu films giving them their much-needed breaks.

Athala Kuthala Pathalam (AKP), a 29-minute film, is one such labour of love- a dramatised narrative on the need for youngsters to living life on their own terms, breaking conventional barriers which the society sets for them and winning the family’s support too in the process. Written and directed by Sravan Pandrangi, it was released on YouTube on Friday last and the initial reactions for the venture have been encouraging.

Spread over a year and more, Pandrangi, assembled a good team of professionals to realise his dream project, partially shot at Surabhi theatre with the active support of Nageswara Rao and Sangamam Sanjay Kishore. The production design and the art for the stage play was executed by Nandi-award winning art director Kranthi Priyam.

For the makeup of the artistes, they were helped by the experienced Malladi Gopala Krishna, a Telugu University professor. This film marked the debut in Telugu cinema for Bangalore- based music director Ashic Arun who had already worked for few Kannada films. The lead actors were professional theatre artistes Thiruveer (UoH) and Pawan Ramesh who gave effortless and unforgettable performances.

Mohan Sivalenka, played the father of two sons, who were keen to fly off to chase their passions in the film. Like him, the cinematographer, Sriman Keerthi and the editor, Venkat Kalyan were part of the team that Sravan had already put together by then, who had shown their mettle in associating themselves with similar productions earlier.

Veering away from bringing to the fore regular differences of opinion in modern homes, where fathers want their progenies to ‘settle’ down and turn useful and the latter resisting and rebelling, the film alternates between a cinematic narrative to unspool the plot and as it proceeds towards its end, exploiting the strengths of its lead team to convey the message- let the young be the way they are to emerge successful- via a historical play.

The drama as it unfolds on the stage is an emotional inter-connect with the real lives of the players in it, which is well done. By doing this, the director gives enough scope to the cinematographer, who invests his optimal skills in framing his shots and the editor, crisply putting it all together.
Where does the unit go from here? As of now the ambience in which they find themselves is unclear.

Hyderabad, as industry talk goes, is the short film capital of the country. Many of its function venues which have slots for film shows have more often than not seen a regular output by young enthusiasts who explore various genres of film making in the abbreviated format. People in the know also talk about how there curators who have been archiving short films and hold collections are running into thousands over the past decade, when the trend gained steady traction.

Social media platforms like YouTube have also been generous in lending space and consequent mileage to these film makers, who range from rank amateurs to established ones who retreat to the basic medium to convey their messages. Given that the members of AKP are already getting exposed to big screen professionals, it would just be a matter of time for them to bag a coveted chance to showcase their skills for a larger audience.

By K Naresh Kumar