Krishnavamsi - Sri Anjaneyam is like Bhagawad Geetha wrapped in Cine Magazine
KrishnaVamsi - The name and the personality needs no introduction. From Gulabi till Khadgam, he has spoken through his films. He is one of those rare breed of directors who could pull the audience with his name tag. "Creative Genius", as called by the media, Krishnavamsi has his next film ready for the release - titled Sri Anjaneyam. With a special brand in his shot takings, difference in presentation - his films are always a treat to watch. Sri Anjaneyam, coming after Khadgam, naturally raises the curiosity. We wanted to know on what is this all about?
Sri Anjaneyam - The title itself raises a kind of religious feeling. Why not? It is the name of one of the Hindu Gods, who is the most powerful. But Krishnavamsi has a different take for the word religion. He asks you inturn. "What is religion?". He continues - "It is the way of life. Method of life. Any religion - name it Sikh, Christianity, Muslim or others - any religion preaches one thing - The way to lead ones life. How to work on our way towards reaching the Eternity". He quickly adds - "Now you will have a question. Why Hanuman and why not Mohammad or Jesus. Logic is very simple - I don't know much about Mohammad to make him the base of the film. Following the surroundings and environment in which I was brought up, I am comfortable with projecting Hanuman."
Is this philosophy or Hindutva?
These two are different. Philosophy is the truth of life. As I mentioned before, a religion is a method of life and working towards eternity. Hinduism is not a religion. What is Hindutva? I dont belong to religion Hindu. Neither you do. We come from Arya race and arshya religion. As this culture lived across the river Sindhu (Now Indus), foriegners referred to them as Sindhus. In due course and in usage, Sindhus became Hindus.
Krishnavamsi seemed to have gone in depth into the evolution of the Hinduism. Is this the concept of the film? Krishnavamsi smiles and says - "You are coming to the same point again. See our gods - Rama, Krishna and others are from puranas. They are the representatives of the Almighty - Akanda Jyothi Swarupam - The Eternal Truth. Whoever you start worshiping, the final goal is to work towards the Jyothi Swarupam. Religion preaches you how to attain it. The concept is vast. Since we cannot understand these things, characters are created. There is no shape or boundary for eternity. This realization is there with only a few number. No one seems to think of this. There is this sanskrit line "Aham Brahmasmi". In this generation, you could call it as "Ahamkaram Brahmasmi". Just think - Why are we here? Why are we human beings and why not something else? Is there a purpose for this life? Deep thinking into this leads to realization. I am not the first one to deal with such a concept in the film. Earlier - Bhagawad Gita and Adi Sankaracharya - tried to discuss it on screen. They are master pieces. I am just quoting them. Sri Anjaneyam cannot be compared to them. I want to take this concept to all sections of the audience. Hence it will be sugar-coated and be projected in the way that will be appreciated by the common man."
Krishnavamsi attributes and views everything philosophically. It was like talking to someone who has gone through self-realization. A few days prior to this meeting, accidentally I got my hands on a book called Essentials of Hinduism. Precisely, these are the kind of the things that were discussed in the book. Initially I was under the impression that Krishnavamsi did good amount of research in this work. But what I realized as the discussion progressed was it is not just confined to the film, but his perspective about everything is this way.
Soundarya is a close friend of his. He directed Soundarya for the film - Anthapuram - which did great both commercially and critically. Soundarya was to have dinner with Krishnavamsi on the day the unfortunate event - sudden demise of Soundarya - took place. "It is a vaccum. No one can fill the space. Why Soundarya? Why on that day? These thoughts are bugging me. I am still not out of it. But have to cope up with it". He adds - "There are so many things unanswered. So many things not known to us. There is a small secret key (Sukshma rahasyam) which holds the truth of Brahmandam (universe). We know three dimensions on this earth. Add to it two more dimensions - Space and Time. So all we can visualize is 5 dimensions. Lord Krishna explains 14 dimensions in Gita. And if we go into Vedas, I am sure we will find more. So what are the other dimensions? What is their significance? There is so much of it...."
You mentioned that you are taking this concept of God-realization and omni-presence to all the sections. Dont you think it is experimenting?
Well! The message will be wrapped up nicely. I will tell you a scene. Nitin is an orphan in this film. He worships and adores Hanuman. Everyday he offers prasadam to the idol of Hanuman in the village. One day, Arjun (doing the Hanuman in the film) comes across Nitin and asks for the banana that Nitin is carrying to offer to Hanuman. Nitin declines saying it is for the almighty. So, Nitin offers it to the idol and stands there with his eyes closed. By the time he opens the eyes, the banana is gone. He looks around and finds Arjun taking the swallow. So, Nitin almost goes to trash him. Arjun asks him few questions. The conversation goes as follows:
Where did u get this banana from?
From the farm
How did it come to the farm?
It comes from the tree
How did the tree get it?
(It comes as a bouncer to Nitin. But he responds )- God Gave it.
So what is the point in offering to the God the very thing which he gave it to you. He gave it to you so that you can help someone with it. Dont you think if you give this to the hungry, God will be more happy.
So this is one of those scenes. Some might understand the implicit message. If, atleast few of them realize the omni-presence of the God and that God is there in every one and this is all his game, they might stop this huge offerings and instead would prefer giving it to the hungry.
So is this shaping up like a divine message oriented film?
Audience come to the theater for entertainment. They will be disappointed to see someone preaching. I want to satisfy the audience for the amount they paid to watch my film. I want to make them happy emotionally. SriAnjaneyam falls under the category of films like Murari, Khadgam. Message wrapped in entertainment always works. This is like wrapping Gita in a cinema magazine. (Laughs). So definitely there are entertainmental ingredients also in this film.
What factors transformed your perspective on life?
(Promplty comes the reply) - Ram Gopal Varma and Sirivennela Sita Rama Sastry. It is from my experiences that I learnt so many things. Some people harmed me, some tried to harm me and some gave me immense happiness.
Who are the people you are talking about regarding the happiness?
My significant half - Ramya, my close friend - Prakashraj, Soundarya and others.
Is Prakash Raj in the film?
Ofcourse, he is in.
So, Why Nitin for this role?
Why not Nitin?
(Let's rephrase the question)
What is the characterization of Nitin in the film?
An innocent looking good human being, who needs to be cared and protected. The character also demands lesser image. Let me tell you one thing - Nitin did a marvellous job.
We heard that the film will have hi-fi graphics!
I guess you mean Visual effects, Then yes. There is some superhuman nature attributed to the Hanuman character. His physical appearance, flying in the air and many magical elements related to Lord Anjaneya. I dont have the physical equipment to show this to the realistic level. So I am using graphics. Chakri from Orlando is doing the graphics. He acted in the film Sagarasangamam. He took training in Film Academy, US. He has opened his own multimedia company and is working with big studios in Hollywood. Through an acquaintance, I got to know him and he readily accepted to provide the effects for my film.
We also heard that Arjun will not be shown in the getup of Anjaneya even once.
NO. Whenever Hanuman is shown, it is in graphics. Arjun appears like a normal human being.
We wanted to dig into the past:
Sindhuram is a master piece.
Accepted. But it pushed me 5 years back financially. I tried to document a fact. Facts are always bitter. But then I thought of wrapping this with some sugar-coating. How much ever you wrap the neem with honey, it will leave that bitterness.
So why do u think Anthapuram did well, which has the similar hard hitting elements like Sinduram
Sinduram didnot go well probably because I didnot prepare the audience. First half of that year, I delivered Ninne Pelladatha. So audience were expecting some kind of romantic elements in the film and not the hard facts. For Anthapuram, they are already prepared because of Sindhuram and the same thing applies to Khadgam also.
There is a feeling among the audience that Sindhuram is a good movie, though it flopped at that time. Do you think you are ahead of the audience?
I dont think it is a compliment. A director should be in sync with the audience. I dont think even if Sindhuram is released today it will do any better.
You mentioned that Sindhuram pushed you back 5 years financially. Are you out of it now?
Yes. After Khadgam I could say that.
You have the tag of a technically brilliant
I dont think I am technically brilliant.
The shot takings, song picturizations and presentation - Krishnavamsi has an unique style.
If you think I have a unique style, I am repeating myself. It is redundant. Isn't it?
Definitely it was hard for me to answer the question. He realizes it and tries to answer the question in a less humble manner. "I dont think so. If you are talking about shot-takings, it is the outcome of the entire crew's effect. It is the duty of the director to co-ordinate with the technical team to get the output that he is looking for. I do my job. If you are talking about technically brilliant, you should refer to Vamsi, Mani Ratnam, Balu Mahendra, Bharathi Raja, Ram Gopal Varma, K.Viswanath and others. They know where exactly NOT to use the technique. I think I am still learning.
So is it true that you had rift with your old acquaintances Ram Gopal Varma and JD?
(He Laughs).Rift with Ramgopal Varma - (He laughs again.) Rift happens between equals. I am much lesser compared to him. I am poorman's Ramgopal Varma. So rift is too big to be an issue. With JD, it was not a rift. We had different styles and versions. That is it. To be frank, without Chakri there is no Gulabi. For example, Bike song was possible only because of him. Even if I had the vision of the song, the person needs to be capable of controlling bike at that speed.
You have created controversy with Khadgam!
Look! When I made the movie, it was just my script and I worked on it. I didnot make it to create any tensions or controversies. We cannot judge how people would react.
I think you irked many in the industry also with the babu concept.
There is nothing new that I created for myself. It was already there. The only thing is that the feeling became concrete after the film.
Why do you think so?
Working 24 hours continuously and getting bogged down for someone else sake is not my cup of tea. I want to enjoy making films. This way, I might not be available to everyone. So some might think I am arrogant. For God's sake, I have my own life. I know what I can do and what I cannot do.
There was also a talk that Raviteja's character in the film is inspired from your own character.
Not just mine. There are thousands of guys who enter the industry this way.
How did your acquaintance begin with RamyaKrishna? With Chandra Lekha?
No! I know her much before that. She liked the way I pictured Gulabi bike song. Once we bumped into each other during Ninne Pelladatha making and she appreciated my work. That acquaintance became friendship. Now we are sharing life together. She is the best thing that happened to me.
How do you take hits and flops.
I only care about my work and script. This is not a result-oriented process. I make the films my way with all possible entertainment within my boundary. After the prints come out, I break my emotional attachment with the film.
It is rare that directors could pull crowds. You are able to do that!
It is scary. This increases your responsibility also.
Let me quote you one of the previous statements which you made regarding Shakti - that it is 10 times better than Anthapuram. DO you think that is true.
Absolutely. I still feel that Sakthi is a better product than Anthapuram.
Then why did it fail!
There are many reasons. The emotions didnot work well with Sakthi for various reasons. Anthapuram left such an impact that it cannot be replaced.
Do you think of any mistakes with Shakthi.
Yes. Firstly casting. Then Music. Music in Telugu by Ilayaraja was magical. There are many other things.
Ilayaraja. When you have so much good experience with him, why are you not repeating him?
Ilayaraja is a genius. If my script requires Ilayaraja, I will go for him. Anthapuram needed Ilayaraja. I dont want to degrade him by taking him for every film.
Who is writing the dialgoues for Sri Anjaneyam?
Radha Krishna.
We heard that you have a major share in writing the dialogues of the film. Like Uttej and you penned the dialogues for Khadgam.
Dialogues are part of the screeplay. What a character speaks and the context is part of the screenplay. So I have to work on the dialogues. Someone else, who has saraswati on his hand, would translate it to the character's version and put them on the paper.
What do you think your weak points are?
SO many. In the first place, I cannot make a blockbuster. I mean, I cannot make an all round superhit film. From my perspective, a blockbuster is the one which runs good in all sections of the audience. I am not talking about the money. For me, blockbuster is the measurement of reach to the audience.
What are your upcoming projects?
Film with Prabhas.
Give us more details.
It already started. I cannot give you more details than that at this point.
What happened to Vandemataram? We have been hearing about it for long time.
I am still working on the script. As soon as I am convinced with the script, I will take it to the floors. I spent more than 2 years on that.
Is it Chiranajeevi in Vandemataram?
It is left to your assumption for now. I will tell you when the right time comes.
Krishnavamsi says he has two important things in life - Ramyakrishna and Cinema. When asked for his favorite food and place, he said in a very simple way, "pappu charu" as his favorite food and any place where he could sleep for that day is his favorite place. With such a name and fame, it is great to see Krishnavamsi with down to earth attitude. At present, he is busy with the post-production work of Sri Anjaneyam. Audio of the film will release shortly and movie will release in the second half of the same month. We wish him all the best for Sri Anjaneyam.
Interviewed by Vamsy
KrishnaVamsi - The name and the personality needs no introduction. From Gulabi till Khadgam, he has spoken through his films. He is one of those rare breed of directors who could pull the audience with his name tag. "Creative Genius", as called by the media, Krishnavamsi has his next film ready for the release - titled Sri Anjaneyam. With a special brand in his shot takings, difference in presentation - his films are always a treat to watch. Sri Anjaneyam, coming after Khadgam, naturally raises the curiosity. We wanted to know on what is this all about?
Sri Anjaneyam - The title itself raises a kind of religious feeling. Why not? It is the name of one of the Hindu Gods, who is the most powerful. But Krishnavamsi has a different take for the word religion. He asks you inturn. "What is religion?". He continues - "It is the way of life. Method of life. Any religion - name it Sikh, Christianity, Muslim or others - any religion preaches one thing - The way to lead ones life. How to work on our way towards reaching the Eternity". He quickly adds - "Now you will have a question. Why Hanuman and why not Mohammad or Jesus. Logic is very simple - I don't know much about Mohammad to make him the base of the film. Following the surroundings and environment in which I was brought up, I am comfortable with projecting Hanuman."
Is this philosophy or Hindutva?
These two are different. Philosophy is the truth of life. As I mentioned before, a religion is a method of life and working towards eternity. Hinduism is not a religion. What is Hindutva? I dont belong to religion Hindu. Neither you do. We come from Arya race and arshya religion. As this culture lived across the river Sindhu (Now Indus), foriegners referred to them as Sindhus. In due course and in usage, Sindhus became Hindus.
Krishnavamsi seemed to have gone in depth into the evolution of the Hinduism. Is this the concept of the film? Krishnavamsi smiles and says - "You are coming to the same point again. See our gods - Rama, Krishna and others are from puranas. They are the representatives of the Almighty - Akanda Jyothi Swarupam - The Eternal Truth. Whoever you start worshiping, the final goal is to work towards the Jyothi Swarupam. Religion preaches you how to attain it. The concept is vast. Since we cannot understand these things, characters are created. There is no shape or boundary for eternity. This realization is there with only a few number. No one seems to think of this. There is this sanskrit line "Aham Brahmasmi". In this generation, you could call it as "Ahamkaram Brahmasmi". Just think - Why are we here? Why are we human beings and why not something else? Is there a purpose for this life? Deep thinking into this leads to realization. I am not the first one to deal with such a concept in the film. Earlier - Bhagawad Gita and Adi Sankaracharya - tried to discuss it on screen. They are master pieces. I am just quoting them. Sri Anjaneyam cannot be compared to them. I want to take this concept to all sections of the audience. Hence it will be sugar-coated and be projected in the way that will be appreciated by the common man."
Krishnavamsi attributes and views everything philosophically. It was like talking to someone who has gone through self-realization. A few days prior to this meeting, accidentally I got my hands on a book called Essentials of Hinduism. Precisely, these are the kind of the things that were discussed in the book. Initially I was under the impression that Krishnavamsi did good amount of research in this work. But what I realized as the discussion progressed was it is not just confined to the film, but his perspective about everything is this way.
Soundarya is a close friend of his. He directed Soundarya for the film - Anthapuram - which did great both commercially and critically. Soundarya was to have dinner with Krishnavamsi on the day the unfortunate event - sudden demise of Soundarya - took place. "It is a vaccum. No one can fill the space. Why Soundarya? Why on that day? These thoughts are bugging me. I am still not out of it. But have to cope up with it". He adds - "There are so many things unanswered. So many things not known to us. There is a small secret key (Sukshma rahasyam) which holds the truth of Brahmandam (universe). We know three dimensions on this earth. Add to it two more dimensions - Space and Time. So all we can visualize is 5 dimensions. Lord Krishna explains 14 dimensions in Gita. And if we go into Vedas, I am sure we will find more. So what are the other dimensions? What is their significance? There is so much of it...."
You mentioned that you are taking this concept of God-realization and omni-presence to all the sections. Dont you think it is experimenting?
Well! The message will be wrapped up nicely. I will tell you a scene. Nitin is an orphan in this film. He worships and adores Hanuman. Everyday he offers prasadam to the idol of Hanuman in the village. One day, Arjun (doing the Hanuman in the film) comes across Nitin and asks for the banana that Nitin is carrying to offer to Hanuman. Nitin declines saying it is for the almighty. So, Nitin offers it to the idol and stands there with his eyes closed. By the time he opens the eyes, the banana is gone. He looks around and finds Arjun taking the swallow. So, Nitin almost goes to trash him. Arjun asks him few questions. The conversation goes as follows:
Where did u get this banana from?
From the farm
How did it come to the farm?
It comes from the tree
How did the tree get it?
(It comes as a bouncer to Nitin. But he responds )- God Gave it.
So what is the point in offering to the God the very thing which he gave it to you. He gave it to you so that you can help someone with it. Dont you think if you give this to the hungry, God will be more happy.
So this is one of those scenes. Some might understand the implicit message. If, atleast few of them realize the omni-presence of the God and that God is there in every one and this is all his game, they might stop this huge offerings and instead would prefer giving it to the hungry.
So is this shaping up like a divine message oriented film?
Audience come to the theater for entertainment. They will be disappointed to see someone preaching. I want to satisfy the audience for the amount they paid to watch my film. I want to make them happy emotionally. SriAnjaneyam falls under the category of films like Murari, Khadgam. Message wrapped in entertainment always works. This is like wrapping Gita in a cinema magazine. (Laughs). So definitely there are entertainmental ingredients also in this film.
What factors transformed your perspective on life?
(Promplty comes the reply) - Ram Gopal Varma and Sirivennela Sita Rama Sastry. It is from my experiences that I learnt so many things. Some people harmed me, some tried to harm me and some gave me immense happiness.
Who are the people you are talking about regarding the happiness?
My significant half - Ramya, my close friend - Prakashraj, Soundarya and others.
Is Prakash Raj in the film?
Ofcourse, he is in.
So, Why Nitin for this role?
Why not Nitin?
(Let's rephrase the question)
What is the characterization of Nitin in the film?
An innocent looking good human being, who needs to be cared and protected. The character also demands lesser image. Let me tell you one thing - Nitin did a marvellous job.
We heard that the film will have hi-fi graphics!
I guess you mean Visual effects, Then yes. There is some superhuman nature attributed to the Hanuman character. His physical appearance, flying in the air and many magical elements related to Lord Anjaneya. I dont have the physical equipment to show this to the realistic level. So I am using graphics. Chakri from Orlando is doing the graphics. He acted in the film Sagarasangamam. He took training in Film Academy, US. He has opened his own multimedia company and is working with big studios in Hollywood. Through an acquaintance, I got to know him and he readily accepted to provide the effects for my film.
We also heard that Arjun will not be shown in the getup of Anjaneya even once.
NO. Whenever Hanuman is shown, it is in graphics. Arjun appears like a normal human being.
We wanted to dig into the past:
Sindhuram is a master piece.
Accepted. But it pushed me 5 years back financially. I tried to document a fact. Facts are always bitter. But then I thought of wrapping this with some sugar-coating. How much ever you wrap the neem with honey, it will leave that bitterness.
So why do u think Anthapuram did well, which has the similar hard hitting elements like Sinduram
Sinduram didnot go well probably because I didnot prepare the audience. First half of that year, I delivered Ninne Pelladatha. So audience were expecting some kind of romantic elements in the film and not the hard facts. For Anthapuram, they are already prepared because of Sindhuram and the same thing applies to Khadgam also.
There is a feeling among the audience that Sindhuram is a good movie, though it flopped at that time. Do you think you are ahead of the audience?
I dont think it is a compliment. A director should be in sync with the audience. I dont think even if Sindhuram is released today it will do any better.
You mentioned that Sindhuram pushed you back 5 years financially. Are you out of it now?
Yes. After Khadgam I could say that.
You have the tag of a technically brilliant
I dont think I am technically brilliant.
The shot takings, song picturizations and presentation - Krishnavamsi has an unique style.
If you think I have a unique style, I am repeating myself. It is redundant. Isn't it?
Definitely it was hard for me to answer the question. He realizes it and tries to answer the question in a less humble manner. "I dont think so. If you are talking about shot-takings, it is the outcome of the entire crew's effect. It is the duty of the director to co-ordinate with the technical team to get the output that he is looking for. I do my job. If you are talking about technically brilliant, you should refer to Vamsi, Mani Ratnam, Balu Mahendra, Bharathi Raja, Ram Gopal Varma, K.Viswanath and others. They know where exactly NOT to use the technique. I think I am still learning.
So is it true that you had rift with your old acquaintances Ram Gopal Varma and JD?
(He Laughs).Rift with Ramgopal Varma - (He laughs again.) Rift happens between equals. I am much lesser compared to him. I am poorman's Ramgopal Varma. So rift is too big to be an issue. With JD, it was not a rift. We had different styles and versions. That is it. To be frank, without Chakri there is no Gulabi. For example, Bike song was possible only because of him. Even if I had the vision of the song, the person needs to be capable of controlling bike at that speed.
You have created controversy with Khadgam!
Look! When I made the movie, it was just my script and I worked on it. I didnot make it to create any tensions or controversies. We cannot judge how people would react.
I think you irked many in the industry also with the babu concept.
There is nothing new that I created for myself. It was already there. The only thing is that the feeling became concrete after the film.
Why do you think so?
Working 24 hours continuously and getting bogged down for someone else sake is not my cup of tea. I want to enjoy making films. This way, I might not be available to everyone. So some might think I am arrogant. For God's sake, I have my own life. I know what I can do and what I cannot do.
There was also a talk that Raviteja's character in the film is inspired from your own character.
Not just mine. There are thousands of guys who enter the industry this way.
How did your acquaintance begin with RamyaKrishna? With Chandra Lekha?
No! I know her much before that. She liked the way I pictured Gulabi bike song. Once we bumped into each other during Ninne Pelladatha making and she appreciated my work. That acquaintance became friendship. Now we are sharing life together. She is the best thing that happened to me.
How do you take hits and flops.
I only care about my work and script. This is not a result-oriented process. I make the films my way with all possible entertainment within my boundary. After the prints come out, I break my emotional attachment with the film.
It is rare that directors could pull crowds. You are able to do that!
It is scary. This increases your responsibility also.
Let me quote you one of the previous statements which you made regarding Shakti - that it is 10 times better than Anthapuram. DO you think that is true.
Absolutely. I still feel that Sakthi is a better product than Anthapuram.
Then why did it fail!
There are many reasons. The emotions didnot work well with Sakthi for various reasons. Anthapuram left such an impact that it cannot be replaced.
Do you think of any mistakes with Shakthi.
Yes. Firstly casting. Then Music. Music in Telugu by Ilayaraja was magical. There are many other things.
Ilayaraja. When you have so much good experience with him, why are you not repeating him?
Ilayaraja is a genius. If my script requires Ilayaraja, I will go for him. Anthapuram needed Ilayaraja. I dont want to degrade him by taking him for every film.
Who is writing the dialgoues for Sri Anjaneyam?
Radha Krishna.
We heard that you have a major share in writing the dialogues of the film. Like Uttej and you penned the dialogues for Khadgam.
Dialogues are part of the screeplay. What a character speaks and the context is part of the screenplay. So I have to work on the dialogues. Someone else, who has saraswati on his hand, would translate it to the character's version and put them on the paper.
What do you think your weak points are?
SO many. In the first place, I cannot make a blockbuster. I mean, I cannot make an all round superhit film. From my perspective, a blockbuster is the one which runs good in all sections of the audience. I am not talking about the money. For me, blockbuster is the measurement of reach to the audience.
What are your upcoming projects?
Film with Prabhas.
Give us more details.
It already started. I cannot give you more details than that at this point.
What happened to Vandemataram? We have been hearing about it for long time.
I am still working on the script. As soon as I am convinced with the script, I will take it to the floors. I spent more than 2 years on that.
Is it Chiranajeevi in Vandemataram?
It is left to your assumption for now. I will tell you when the right time comes.
Krishnavamsi says he has two important things in life - Ramyakrishna and Cinema. When asked for his favorite food and place, he said in a very simple way, "pappu charu" as his favorite food and any place where he could sleep for that day is his favorite place. With such a name and fame, it is great to see Krishnavamsi with down to earth attitude. At present, he is busy with the post-production work of Sri Anjaneyam. Audio of the film will release shortly and movie will release in the second half of the same month. We wish him all the best for Sri Anjaneyam.
Interviewed by Vamsy
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