Nanda Kishore Eemani is on cloud nine after his debut film 35-Chinna Katha Kaadu won the National Film Award for Best Children’s Film. The prestigious recognition has given a major boost to the director and the entire team. The film received widespread appreciation from audiences and critics when it was released in theatres and also emerged as a commercially successful venture. 

Nanda Kishore Eemani, director of 35-Chinna Katha Kaadu, was born and brought up in Visakhapatnam. After completing his Intermediate at BVK College, he went on to become a Chartered Accountant and worked for a private company in Bengaluru for a few years.

However, his passion for cinema eventually brought him to Hyderabad. “I left my job and landed in Hyderabad in 2014. I didn’t know anyone in the industry; I was a complete outsider. I started making short films and sending them to competitions,” says Nanda Kishore.

He participated in several short film competitions, and one of his short films won a competition organised by SS Rajamouli and Lok Satta. He also participated in a short film contest organised by Manchu Vishnu, and director Krishna Vamsi during the promotions of Paisa. “I used to send my short films to all the competitions so that I could get some contacts from the industry,” says.

Nanda Kishore, whose journey eventually led him to director Krish and producer Rajeev Reddy. “They encouraged me a lot and introduced me to Sankalp Reddy. I worked as an assistant director with Sankalp Reddy on Pitta Kathalu."

The idea for 35-Chinna Katha Kaadu had been with Nanda Kishore since 2019. “I started narrating the story to many people from 2019. Then Covid happened, and during that time I met Vishwadev Rachakonda. We approached a few people with the story and finally producer Srujan came onboard."

Interestingly, the core idea for 35-Chinna Katha Kaadu was inspired by the Ramayana. “If you look at the twins Lava and Kusa, they never grew up with their parents together. First, they were with their mother Sita, and when they reunited with their father, Sita disappeared and Lord Rama also completed his avatar. My core idea started with imagining what it would be like if Sita and Rama had brought up their children together. That’s why the character names in my film were Prasad, Saraswathi, Seetha and Rama,” explains Nanda Kishore.

Talking about the journey of his debut film, he says, “Initially, it took some time, but once the project was finalised, everything went smoothly. Rana Daggubati garu and his father Suresh Babu garu backed this film very well. I initially narrated the film to Rana garu and he liked it very much. But then Covid happened, and finally Srujan garu and Siddharth Rallapalli took the project forward."

Nanda Kishore says he never worried about following a commercial formula while making the film. “I was never scared or thought about commercial elements like action, songs or anything like that. I wanted to tell an honest story that I had written. All the characters looked realistic, and I believed in my film," says the filmmaker who credits literature for playing a major role in shaping his writing. “The impact of literature on my writing is definitely there. The popular novel 'Veyi Padagalu' by Vishwanatha Satyanarayana garu had a major influence on me,” says Nanda Kishore, also listing books like Gollapudi Maruthi Rao’s 'Sayankalam Ayindi', Buchi Babu’s 'Chivaraku Migiledi' and Yandamuri Veerendranath’s 'Antharmukham' as the ones that inspired him.

35-Chinna Katha Kaadu won the National Film Award for Best Children’s Film. “We expected that our film would get an award. We also sent the film to the Goa Film Festival, where it was selected for the Indian Panorama. From then onwards, we started sending it to various film festivals,” says the filmmaker, admitting that the National Award has given him a fresh sense of responsibility. “It actually makes me more responsible. I want to do something more, but the circumstances surrounding me haven’t changed. It gives me a positive boost and also earns respect for us,” says the director.

He also revealed that the award has made it easier for him to approach people in the industry. “With this recognition, it has become easier to approach people, and they definitely spend their time when I want to narrate a story," explains Nanda Kishore.

Nanda Kishore also spoke about the changes he has observed in Telugu cinema, and said he misses the kind of films made by directors such as K Viswanath, Singeetham Srinivasa Rao, Bharathiraja, Bapu, Dasari Narayana Rao and Kodi Ramakrishna. "Cinema has changed a lot, and now more action dramas have come. The directors I mentioned are making such films less frequently, and even audiences are not used to watching those kinds of films. As a director, my first responsibility is to bring audiences to theatres. That’s why I started shooting my film in Tirupati and made it with a pure heart,” says Nanda Kishore.

Although he worked with Sankalp Reddy in the writing department, Nanda Kishore said he initially had limited knowledge about the technical aspects of filmmaking. “I never knew much about the camera and other nuances of filmmaking. But I was on the sets when Pitta Kathalu was being shot, and after I started shooting my own film, I was able to apply what I had observed."

Nanda Kishore strongly believes in workshops and extensive preparation before shooting. “I did more than a month-long workshop with the main actors, including Nivetha Thomas, Vishwadev and others. There were also many children in my film, and I conducted a nearly three-month workshop for them,” says Nanda Kishore, also reminiscing on the time spent shooting the film in Tirupati. “Shooting in real locations also helped us keep the production costs low. I personally believe that workshops and pre-production help films become more realistic. I will continue following the same process in my future feature projects as well,” he concludes.