Nag Ashwin: There was a rockstar side to Savitri

0
851
nag ashwin 2

As ‘Mahanati’ inches towards its release date, director Nag Ashwin talks about his approach to filmmaking

In between wrapping up the final edit of Mahanati (Nadigaiyar Thilagam in Tamil), we caught up with director Nag Ashwin at Prasad Labs. Excerpts from an interview:

Your first directorial Yevade Subramanyam was a man’s journey to Himalayas to rediscover himself. Your second is a biopic. What stories intrigue you?

After Yevade Subramanyam, I figured out that I want to make movies that would have a lifespan and be useful in some way. Earlier, I used to write certain stories because I enjoyed mythology genre — films like Lord of The Rings or Pathala Bhairavi.

Savitri’s story can be a reference for filmmakers and for people who want to know more about her. The films of that generation already feel like hearsay, not everyone has watched many of them. My sister, for instance, has only watched Mayabazaar. On the other hand, I still feel a connect to that generation.

In a decade from now it would be good to look back at the biopic, relive moments in cinema and history. Once when Savitri and Gemini Ganesan were on a drive, their car had to pass through a Potti Sreeramulu rally; this was when there was a demand for a separate state of Andhra Pradesh.

Did the film become much larger than you envisioned?

It was easier to climb mountains [for Yevade…]. I didn’t want to hold back on anything because a biopic is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. No one has attempted a biopic on Gandhi again. Our film follows Savitri’s life from cradle to grave, unlike certain recent biopics [the sports dramas] that select a point in a personality’s life and end with the winning of a championship.

So we ended up working on four time periods, from the 1940s to the 80s. In a normal film there would be 25 to 30 main speaking characters. Here, we have 110 to 120 characters; we went bonkers getting them to dub. Also, if I remember something at a later stage I cannot go ahead and shoot. Since it’s a period film, it needs to be in a particular set. We’ve used visual effects, but it will be unseen. Until the studio releases before and after clippings, in many scenes the audience will not realise that visual effects have been used.

Nag Ashwin: There was a rockstar side to Savitri

In situations where you’re recreating iconic film episodes in black and white, you cut back to the present day of those characters, which are in colour. Did you work with storyboards to make it all easier?

That’s the ideal way to do it. But I like some chaos on the sets which brings in spontaneity both in the cast and the crew. If the actor knows his or her spot, where the light comes from and what lines to say, it’s a rehearsed performance.

You also wanted Keerthy Suresh and Dulquer Salmaan to internalise their parts than imitate Savitri and Gemini Ganesan.

Absolutely. I didn’t want them to sound like mimicry artistes. I had cut videos showing Savitri’s expressions when she’s happy or sad — taken from different films — for Keerthy to understand. But I didn’t want her to imitate. Similarly, we had an idea of how the Gemini character should look and behave; perceptions changed when Dulquer came on board.It’s tough to know what exactly happened in her life, between her and Gemini… So we stuck to what we got from Savitri’s newspaper and radio interviews, and from letters she had written to others.

How did you choose the films of Savitri you wanted to recreate?

She’s done 300 films; we chose a few that coincided with the story arc of her life. Devadasu was one of her earlier big projects, and Mayabazaar was a turning point. I like at least 40 songs she featured in. I made a medley and wanted to shoot all of it, but it was impractical.

Did unknown facets of Savitri’s life take you by surprise?

I knew she liked race cars but didn’t know she won a few races at the Sholavaram race track in Madras. That was cool. She would drive really fast and would step up the speed to beat the railway gate on the way to Vijaya Vauhini Studios. There was a side to Savitri as an actor that drew awe, people calling her Savitri amma; there was also this rockstar side to her.

Biopics tend to be reverential than objective. What was your approach?

I’d say it’s a mix of both. It’s a celebration of her life as an actor, but we’ve tried to be honest.

How have you presented her final years?

There are several urban legends about her last years. We spoke to several people, including her children. Perspectives and stories change over 40 years. It’s tough to know what exactly happened in her life, between her and Gemini… So we stuck to what we got from Savitri’s newspaper and radio interviews, and from letters she had written to others.

There are several details, going by the song videos already released, like the price of coffee and snacks at a film studio decades ago.

There’s plenty of data. The direction department spent five months in pre-production, which is unusual for a Telugu film. Usually shooting begins once the hero is available. But we had the leeway; the team created location banks. From old film clippings and photos of Madras, Hyderabad and Mysore, we’d find small details like coffee being sold for two paisa.

Did you pack in a lot more than what could be used for the film?

At the scripting stage we left out any information, even if it would have made for an interesting titbit, if it didn’t add to the story. So we didn’t overshoot.

After Hyderabad Public School, you took up journalism. What was the defining moment when you wanted to become a filmmaker?

I always wanted to be a writer and the logical way to do that was journalism. I took up a course in Manipal; during a course in television journalism, I got my hands on a camera. In my school days, it was tough to find point and shoot cameras. This course made the access to cameras easier. I realised I wanted to narrate stories through films.

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here