Directing dreams

Sandalwood

He has directed plays, documentaries, television shows and movies. His choices have been off beat and hard hitting, yet told in an entertaining manner. And now K M Chaitanya — director, documentary filmmaker and theatre person — is all set for his latest directorial venture Aatagara.

An Arts graduate, Chaitanya veered towards theatre in his college days. “I did my Masters in Communications from the Hyderabad Central University. The course included subjects specific to the visual media such as research, script writing, camera work, editing and direction.” Although theatre was his first love, he knew early that it would not be a commercially viable career and started work as an assistant director to Girish Karnad on a documentary that the latter was producing.

His early years were spent doing documentary films and television. Amongst his early work on television was as associate director in the television series Antaraal, a few episodes of which he also scripted. He also co-directed Kannor ki Thakurani, a Hindi serial based on a Kannada novel by Kuvempu. “When Karnad became the director of The Nehru Centre in London, he invited me to talk about English films in India and I was approached by The Media Trust, a British production house, to do a series on cancer. This gave me an opportunity to stay in London for a year and direct the TV series Back to the Floor for BBC World.”

Chaitanya has also directed corporate films and advertisements and says his heart, however, lies in Kannada. “Although the resources, budget and market are much smaller, I have strong roots in Karnataka and this is where I belong. Of late, the Kannada audience has become more accepting of experiments in filmmaking and there is a whole new generation of moviegoers that is yearning for good films.”

Chaitanya was an associate director to Karnad for the film Kanooru Heggadathi, which won him the Kanfida Award for Best Associate Director, both at the national and regional levels. Chaitanya’s first film as director, Aa Dinagalu (2007), was based on real life incidents that took place in Bengaluru between 1985 and 1986. The film won him a spate of debutant awards.

Chaitanya also directed Suryakaanti (2010), an action packed romantic feature, and Parari (2013), an adult comedy. Ask him if the idea of choosing subjects across genres is intentional, and the young filmmaker says, “After Aa Dinagalu, people told me that I must stick to doing films related to the underworld as it was a zone in which I was comfortable. However, I was clear that I wanted to do something that was different and challenging. Just as an actor seeks variety, I want to do things that are unpredictable.”

After the runaway success of Parari, there were a lot of talks about a sequel as well, for which Chaitanya says he needs time. “Doing a sequel is challenging as people will compare it to the original. At present, I am still looking for an interesting story that is better than the original.”

A complete team player, Chaitanya adds that filmmaking is a creative field and it is important to work together. “While I have the final say in the casting of the project, it is always a collaborative effort of the whole team. While the director is the captain of the ship, I believe one must not dictate terms. I work with each person and give my inputs. Also with my actors, I only explain the scene and allow them to interpret it. Then I guide them on how I want the scene performed.”

He is currently ready with Aatagara, produced by B S Dwarakish under the banner Dwarakish Chitra. “Kannan Parameshwaran had actually told me about this story a while back and when we started developing the script, we realised it needed a bigger budget. Fortunately, Yogish Bungale, the co-producer, decided to produce the movie and roped in big stars and the budget is now four times bigger than what it was originally.”