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identify her? A transformation for Sindhu Tulani.

The location shifts from the studio floors and bungalows to the DTS Theatre at Ramanaidu Studios in Film Nagar. Director T. Prabhakar is sitting next to the sound engineer Rajasekhar watching the scene he had shot earlier on the outskirts of Warangal. A woman clad in sari fiercely voices concern about the plight of her ilk. She turns emotional and in Telangana accent, says “why our lives are like this…how many more years have we to suffer…is there is no end to this.” The sound engineer checks whether everything is in perfect sync.

“Can you recognise the woman,” asks Prabhakar. Without waiting he continues “ It is hard to recognise her as she looks different from her earlier movies. The way Sindhu Tulani has transformed herself for the role she is playing now is amazing.” He is in awe of the talented girl who stormed her way into different cinema with Athonokkade followed by Potheponi. She is now playing Bathukamma.

“Bathukamma is a popular festival in Telangana region. But our film is not about the festival or its genesis. It is about the weaker section in the region that is still facing social and economic inequalities. I hail from Chityala in Warangal district and I was a farmer once. So I know the plight of the people. When the Telengana agitation was happening in 1969 I was 10. But some of the images from the struggle are still fresh in my memory. Even after 40 years those people lead a miserable life. I wrote a story and made an attempt to translate it on the celluloid as realistically as possible. My film doesn’t talk about present day politics. It only addresses the problems faced by the people,” says Prabhakar.

Except for a couple of actors the rest are newcomers. “Apart from Sindhu Tulani, Chandrasekhar and veteran lyricst Goratla Yenkanna, the rest are freshers. We took time to train them. Even the dubbing artistes were trained to deliver the dialogue in Telangana accent. Lenina from Khammam has lent voice for Sindhu.”

The director himself has composed the music. “Working on the fields taught me lot of things about life and folk music too. I learnt the songs and music when I was a young farmer. It has come in handy now. I have earlier composed music for Meenakshi too.”

As you wonder whether it is a marked deviation by the director who churned out potboilers such as Rendilla Poojari and Kishkindha Kanda, he reads your mind and says, “It is not easy to find producers for realistic films in a market-driven industry. I must thank my producers and the presenter T. Rajeswara Rao, (ex-MLA and ex-Mayor of Warangal) for making my dream a reality. I will be happy even if there is a minor change in the lives of the people after the movie is released,” Prabhakar signs off.

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