A supernatural thriller
M.L. NARASIMHAM
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Sunil Kumar Reddy tries his hand at an offbeat film, which he hopes will be a commercial success too.
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In this film, we are trying to narrate a supernatural story in a rational way. Film-maker Sunil Reddy
COMING TO THE POINT A scene from the film.
A police jeep speeds past and halts with a sudden jerk near a private hospital in Erragadda. A uniformed officer alights and briskly walks towards the lobby. Surprisingly, neither the staff nor the doctors were alarmed by the officer's sudden appearance. For, a film shoot was in progress and the `hospital staff members', too, were actors playing their part. We were at St. Theresa's Hospital, which provided the right ambience for Sravya Films to shoot their untitled project. P. Sunil Kumar Reddy, besides producing and directing the movie, has also written the story, dialogue and lyrics. It is his fifth venture as a director and fourth as a producer.
Sunil keenly watches his actors as they perform the scene. Upcoming hero Raghu (Raviteja's brother) plays the role of a cop and comes to the hospital to enquire a case. Also taking part in the same scene are the three heroines - Anitha Patil, Sunaina and newcomer Niya (from Kerala) - and Prithvi, in the doctor's attire, and debutant Sangeeth as a patient. As Raghu speaks to them, the three girls turn pale but recover soon as Prithvi, the doctor, vehemently denies something. Then, a close-up shot is taken.
"The three heroines are junior doctors in the hospital," says Sunil. "In this film, we are trying to narrate a supernatural story in a rational way," smiles Sunil. He is known for making offbeat themes and is deft at handling children's subjects. His earlier work, Hero, has won three Nandi awards including the one for the best children's film. His recent short film, Chance, on child labour and deprivation of education to such children has been selected for the Cairo Film Fest to be held between March 2 and 9. "My new film will be more commercial. But that doesn't mean that I will deviate from putting across a story in an unusual way. It is a commercial but meaningful theme," laughs Sunil. "The three girls encounter a super natural element. They try to communicate with the spirit but abort their plan midway as fear takes over. What happens after that is the story."
One of the heroines, Sunaina, takes up the case of mentally disturbed patient Sangeeth as a case study. And a special interest develops. The other two girls dislike this. The film also has comic interludes by L.B. Sriram and Sunil Shetty, the hero's friend. Nagababu plays a crucial character. We also have the popular child actor Deepak Saroj. And for the first time, brothers Raghu and Bharath are coming together on a screen."
Like the Indian cricket team, most of the actors are youngsters. During breaks in between shoots, they are game for a few laughs and keep the entire unit lively. "I could have shot in a studio by putting up a set. But I preferred a real hospital since I didn't want to lose out on the realistic flavour," reasons Sunil.
The film is nearing completion with editing and postproduction work going on simultaneously, and Sunil plans to shoot three songs in Kerala. The songs have been composed by Saket Sairam.
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