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Of land, caste and politics

Dasari in a still from the movie

“I don’t understand when people say film-making is their passion. I find such superlatives strange. I just do my work with sincerity and joy,” says Suresh Krissna, director of Mestri. His career was not a planned one. Born and brought up in Mumbai, a B.Com graduate, Suresh found a vacancy in L.V. Prasad’s and became an accountant; when Dasari Narayan Rao needed an assistant director, he assisted him in Yeh Kaisa Insaaf, a Vinod Mehra and Shabana Azmi starrer. Then he joined K. Balachander and worked with him for seven years. He insists he had done all of this for money and entertainment.

Suresh Krissna gave a string of hits but is now going through a lean patch. The director who is busy in the editing room explains that hits and flops have always been part of his career and after two duds, offers were hard to come by. Strangely, people still gave him opportunities after a while. He says it could be because he never failed as a director, even when there was a lacunae in the story. He adds, “After Basha I reached the peak and soon I found myself coming down. I’m trying to score again with Mestri.”

What was the necessity for Dasari to rope him as a director when he had provided the story, screenplay? Suresh replies, “When I did Prema, I didn’t know Telugu but the film went on to get a Nandi award and ran successfully for 100 days. I was always doing Telugu and Tamil movies parallelly and Dasari remembered me because I was his assistant director. Moreover, the film Mestri has a huge cast. He thought he wouldn’t be able to tackle it himself since he is also the main lead.” The film, releasing on March 12, is already being talked about for its music. Going by the lyrics, it seems to be a political satire.

Suresh avers saying, “One cannot make a two-and-a-half hour film poking fun at some political party or a personality. This is an intense drama that touches various contemporary issues like land, caste and politics.” Shot mostly in Vizag and Ramoji Film City, the film has generated interest as the story has been kept under wraps. Dasari Narayana Rao acting as the main lead, appearing on screen after six years as a 60-year-old is a highlight of the film. The director like us to believe that the film is a commercial entertainer.

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