Aa Dinagalu director Chaitanya

'I believe in telling it as it is'

From an understudy to Girish Karnad, to directing him as an actor. From a star-struck kid to making a successful debut as a director of a film appreciated by both the masses and classes. Chaitanya, director of Aa Dinagalu, a film based on the underworld wars of the eighties, has indeed come a long way and his career is all set to take off to much greater heights. In this comprehensive interview, Chaitanya shares his feelings about the success of his debut film, and his future plans:

• Aa Dinagalu, your first film as director has received very good reviews. Did you expect it?
I always believed that honest and sincere work has its reward. I guess the reviewers saw that in my work and I am grateful to them and feel encouraged to do better.

• The masses too seem to be responding well to the film. Do you think it will go on to be a hit?
For a long time, the assumption has been that our audience is not intelligent and have to be spoon fed. My film has shown that it not so. If we make a film that is intelligent and neat the audience will accept it. I am confident that the audience will continue to reward us for our effort and go on to make to a big hit

• What about any personal reactions to the film? Since it is based on the underworld, did any one from the underworld – of that time and now – come up and tell you whether they liked it or not?
Every character in Aa Dinagalu is taken from real life. Some are alive, and some are no more. I met a numbers of those real life characters in this film to study and observe their behavior and mannerism. All of them were very supportive and open in sharing their experience and information. I don’t think we have offended any one in this film as no one so far has objected to any of their portrayal in the film.

• The Kannada film industry has a never ending fancy for the underworld, considering the number of films that are taken based on it. Was that why you chose this theme?
Agni Sridhar, who wrote the script was sure about what he wanted from this film. He asked me to de-mystify the underworld. He did not want violence to be glorified anyway. He wanted the film to have integrity. We chose this theme because it has the makings of a great work of art - passionate love, emotional conflict, ego clash, and psychological drama 

• On a rating of 1-10, how would you rate Aa Dinagalu?
It would be wrong for a maker to rate his own work. Now, its for the audience to rate us.

• You have been associate director to the great Girish Karnad in some of his TV serials. From being an understudy to directing a legend must have been quite an experience. How was it directing Karnad? Did you feel awkward at any stage?
It was a surreal experience. Imagine saying “Action” to my Guru! I have learned almost everything about film making and art from him. In a way it was a realization of his dreams as well. He suggested that I be made the director of this film. I hope I have made him proud.

• A critic has described your style of direction as “straight forward” and commended you for your “honest approach”. Does this mean you are basically a story-teller, and invest mostly on the power of the script?
Every character is and should be basically a story-teller, because that is what we are doing and telling a story to the audience in the most effective manner is the basis for any good film. I have done my best to be true to the script and build on its strength

• How would you describe your style of making a film? Are you meticulous, plan every minute thing in detail, or believe in your instincts, and some moments when you suddenly get some inspiration?
I do my best to plan and workout every detail of the scene before hand. I work out the effect that I want, and each scene that is being shot. This saves a lot of time and money. But I don’t get straight-jacketed. I also believe in improvising on the set when I find that a particular idea works better than what I had planned earlier.

• What about your future assignments, your next movie?
Right now my work on Aa Dinagalu is not complete yet. I am going to different parts of the state to promote it. Once that is complete, I will think of my next film.

• Many successful directors in Kannada have turned to acting, like Upendra and now Prem. Do you too have any such ambitions?
I am a hopeless actor. Direction is what I think I do best, I think I will stick to that!.

• You have graduated to the big screen from TV. How big has the small screen influence been in your success and why?
I started with Girish Karnad, I learnt the basics of film making first, before doing television work. The satisfaction that I got on the small screen was mainly from the documentaries that I directed on BBC World and CNN, so I feel the inspiration for the film has come from the big screen alone.

• Personally, as a viewer of cinema and not a maker, which do you prefer – offbeat or mainstream cinema?
I feel we should make good films that break such categorization. Both off beat and mainstream makers basically want a large number of people to watch their work, that is what I prefer - films that entertain and are intelligent cinema.