Hyderabad bred Ravindra Benerjee Muppaneni, fondly known as Benny is in the news right now for the award his film won for Color Photo. The young producer in a conversation with Y.Sunita Chowdhary of Klapboardpost.com says he is unapologetic of quitting his career and following his heart; he had always had cinema on the back of his mind ever since he was a child. We must say he has a knack of knowing what appeals to the audience and picks his stories accordingly. His gut feeling has now led him to his fourth film and there are a bunch more in the pipeline.
Benny’s Color Photo is followed by Tellavaruthe Guruvaram and now the current project is in post production. Bedurulanka 2012 has Kartikeya Gummakonda and Neha Shetty of DJ Tillu as the lead artists. What made Benny choose cinema as his career eventually? “I have friends from the industry and I have been around for a long time though not actively. I wanted to start my journey with a meaningful story and kept hearing scripts from six months to a year and that is when I came across Color Photo. I always wanted to do films that excited me and the one which I am doing right now is something I okayed before the release of Color Photo. Bedurulanka 2012 is a two or two and a half year journey,” says the producer
He further says, “It is more about passion. Since the time I was in engineering, it has been a dream to produce films. I have been away from home for a long time and movies were the only passtime. Watching so many films, it got to me that I should get into the business of film making. I have worked for a few films in the IT field. I got married and my wife understood that is what I wanted to do for the rest of my life. Everyone supported me. I would talk to people, but on the ground I got visible with Color Photo. The story is the hero of all my films. The journey which I am doing right keeps me happy, engaged and on my toes. Beduru Lanka 2012 is 95 percent done and I have three more films lined up. I listen to many scripts, work has never paused be it during Covid or post Covid”.
Ask Benny if there is more pressure now after the advent of OTT to pick a good story, he responds, “First thing is, I am a big sucker for dramas. Without an X factor, no story works is my strong feeling. The audience post Covid is ready to watch a film in the theatre multiple times if it is plot or drama driven. More than pre Covid situation, I observed that the films which came later on made bigger numbers. It isn’t as if the audience is not going to see films in theatres. They have just become choosy. They are not liking regular content so that means we should work as if we are doing our first project and if the result is shaky we should be alert and take measures to minimise loss. I am making films with debutantes, it is tough to package but if the emphasis is on the story, everything falls in place”.
Benny prefers a mix of the experienced technicians and the debutants. He wants to work with good heros who can take the film into the market. The directors have great stories but without a known face or star power, marketing gets a bit tough. He concurs that the cost of production has gone up. He quips, “People think it has gone down by a few lakhs but that isn’t the case. We are being extra careful, we have a driving force and we are particular that every rupee spent should be reflected on screen so there is no compromise on that. We spend by the requirement of the story’s demand. I share a good rapport with Kartikeya, he is so easy to work with. We have been more or less on the same page. He was understanding and cool.”
Does the producer decide first, if the film is meant for the theatre or the streaming platform? “It is all story driven and if the dynamics work…there is nothing like it. We should focus on the story and then approve it. It is premature to say if a film should go to the OTT or the box office. Some stories are pre approved and sometimes it might get approved after it is finished. Good content is never rejected and as of now there is pressure on all…to dish out good content”.
Lot of scripts are being weaved around divinity post the humongous success of K2, Kantara and Bimbisara. Is this going to continue for a while till the audience says enough. Benny says, “God driven films were running for ages, people loved the presentation of K2 and the freshness of plot in Kantara. The spin is new, they created a world and engaged the audience. We might see some culture driven films and presume there is more divinity in the story happening. It is the mood of the public right now to appreciate and patronise that are unique and rooted to our culture. Also look at Sitaramam. Though Duquer Salman is not a straight Telugu hero, people enjoyed his work big time. K2 and Bimbisara have a divine angle but Sitaramam worked on the same level. Kantara didn’t have star power but it worked. A good project will work anyday.”
Beduru Lanka is a dramedy, made against a native Godavari backdrop, especially in Yanam and Kakinada. It deals with human emotions and has an undercurrent of humour and message. Yedurulanka is a place in Godavari district and since fear is the big element and plot in the story, it has been turned into Bedurulanka 2012. The story is about the ushering in of apocalypse which we in Telugu term it as Yugantham, when the world ends. This happens in Bandarulanka and the people realise in a span of 21 days in December that nothing of that sort will happen. When you call it bluff or a hoax, how do people behave? This has been narrated in an entertaining and an engaging manner with a new age treatment. Neha Shetty is a big reveal, says Benny. People who have watched her as an urban chic in DJ Tillu will be surprised at her talent and looks as a complete rural Telugu girl. “This film will work big time for Kartikeya too. We saw the final rushes and we were all very happy. Sai Prakash of DJ Tillu is the DoP and music is by Mani Sarma. The editor is Viplav Nyshadam who is working on Baby..an upcoming release. We have ten to 15 known artists, and the film has been shot in live locations in and around Yanam. The film will have a post Pongal release.“
