“I didn’t go to a
film school ever. Now that I’m at Annapurna
College of Film and Media, teaching students,
it makes me look at myself through a different perspective,” says ace director
Neelakanta.
A student of
Loyola Public School and Loyola College, Vijayawada, Neelakanta realised early
on that his true calling was films. After completing his BCom he moved to
Chennai to pursue his dreams. There, he began assisting director Vallabhaneni
Janardhan and worked with him in a couple of films.
He then
produced the film Jamadagni, directed by Bharati Raja,
starring superstar Krishna. Neelakanta recalls that his ‘classroom’ was the
sets. “Being on the sets gave me great insights into the art of direction. I’ve
always liked Bharati Raja’s films Pathinaru Vayathinile and Sigappu Rojakkal.
And being on the sets with him was enlighting.”
A fan of ‘alternate’ cinema, Neelakanta attributes his knowledge of cinema
to the great auteurs. “I’m a big fan of directors like Hrishikesh Mukherjee,
Basu Chatterjee, K Balachander, Bapu garu, Satyajit Ray and ilk.
Some insights from his teachings during a Song Workshop Project at Annapurna College have been captured below:
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Neelakanta
has won two national awards for his film Show – one for best
feature film and the other for best screenplay. In the year 2003 he won the
Nandi award for best screenplay writer for the film, Missamma.
But he admits that
no one taught him how to write a screenplay. “Though I learnt a lot being on
the sets, no one taught me how to write a script. I did it by myself,” he
explains.
Quiz him on what
it takes to make a good film and he says, “It all begins with the story.” He
elaborates, “When you have a good story idea, you need to work on it. You need
to see how you can translate it to a script and how that script takes your
vision on the big screen.”
But a story alone
cannot win the day for you, he says. “If your story is good, but the direction
is bad, your film will suffer. If story and direction are good and
cinematography bad, then too your film will suffer. So, in filmmaking, all
departments are important. As a director you need to keep a close watch on
everything,” he explains.
Having spent
years in the industry, Neelakanta is hopeful the regional industry will see a
drastic change in the way films are made, just like Bollywood. “I like the way
Bollywood has found that fine balance between art and mainstream. Directors
like Vishal Bharadwaj and Anurag Kashyap make these strong, socially relevant
films and yet, manage to fill theatres.”
“To begin with,
it’s wrong to demarcate films and call them ‘art’ and ‘commercial’. It’s all
about storytelling. But for long we have been fed on this concept of how a film
should look and how it should be categorised. It’s amazing to see independent
cinema has found so many takers in Bollywood,” he says.
As far as Telugu
films are concerned, “we are getting there” he feels. “The change in Telugu
cinema is happening slowly but surely. There are independent movies being made,
and they are getting good response from the audience. But the scale on which
they should be made needs to get bigger,” he opines.
“No film industry
can compare to the grandiose of ours. I hope the same money is pumped into
Indie cinema. And I feel it won’t take long for us to get there.”
While breaking into the industry is not an easy task, the director offers some words of advice to young aspirants. “One needs to have perseverance. Never give up. The industry is a tough and ruthless place. If you want to survive, you need to strive. Remember, your hard work will pay off one day. But till that day comes, never stop dreaming.”