Surya Manoj Vangala: I am still juggling between ambition, passion and detachment
While streaming content has witnessed a huge surge in the last couple of years, the Telugu Film Industry has remained relatively low-key in terms of creating big-scale projects for streaming platforms. This is why the Trisha Krishna-starrer Brinda, the investigative thriller series that was released earlier this month, came like a breath of fresh air for the audience. Despite treading familiar terrain, the show stood out for its treatment as well as exploration of socio-political themes like religious dogma, and nature vs nurture, among others.
CE spoke to writer-director Surya Manoj Vangala, who made his debut with the show, about the making of the series, and the thoughts and efforts that went into it.
Excerpts:
Your show explores some complex themes around religion, which is particularly brave considering the current political atmosphere. How did the idea originate?
I come from an orthodox family, with a very rooted lifestyle. Yet, I had my own questions about god, how I perceived god, etc. Like I remember, when I wanted to crack IIT, I used to pray. When things were sorted, I wouldn’t. This was around 2014 when you were having discussions about polarisation happening around you. And these talks are not happening just in Delhi but also become your bedroom conversations. You were seeing extremism of all sorts.
Somewhere, from this cultural background and exposure to world cinema and books, I was trying to find where I was. Brinda’s character evolved from there. It’s not the extremes, but the goodness within you that you have to concentrate on. The humanity within you will tell you what to do. This is the solution I evolved to. I didn’t start writing the story already knowing the solution. It was a long journey, from 2016 to 2020.
Please share with us the writing process — How did the collaboration happen?
While I always had the idea, Padmavathi Malladi, my co-writer, helped me give it structure. I think, initially, I wrote a 500-page script some 50 times, yet it wasn’t up to the level that I wanted. Also, when I was writing lines, I was talking about so many ideas, they were becoming too philosophical, and it was becoming too difficult to contain it all. Padma came and gave it a simple structure, clearing it a lot. Meanwhile, my dialogue writer, Jay Krishna, had the powerful ability to capture the essence of my long monologue lines into simple lines. Also, my script consultant, Shashank Vennelekanti suggested many books which helped me figure out the approach to Brinda’s character.
The audience should be told not just about Brinda’s mind, but also her actions. While others are thinkers, Brinda is a doer—Padma gave a concrete scene to capture that. It was Padma’s idea to write that bathroom scene, where she locks in her superior. Padma and I would have long chats, where she used to be Satya and I would be Brinda. For hours, we would talk and have counterarguments, and the character developed there.
You had earlier assisted in feature films. Was it a challenge to adapt your style or sensibilities for a web series, especially in terms of visual grammar?
Since we all came from cinema, we too didn’t know what the grammar for a web series is or should be. For a regular film, we shoot about 2 minutes of usable content every day. For this show, it had to be 5 minutes. So you are automatically forced to change your style while shooting a series.
The climactic scene was shot in two days. We had 2000 juniors, so much ground to cover, and yet we had to aim for granduer. The cold opens for every episode, which included the flashback scenes, we shot it all over three nights. Besides being a technical job, a director’s job also involves people management.
Anand Saami, who played Thakur, really stood out in the cast. How did this bit of casting happen?
He is the kind of guy who will choose to audition, even if he becomes a Prakash Raj-level of star. He would sit and discuss how to approach this character, and I would block and stage the scenes around his performance. Once, he rounded off all the ADs, asked them about their interpretation of Thakur, and eventually figured out a body language for Thakur that captured his loyalty. Anand will do anything to travel with a character.
How was it working with a big star like Trisha?
She has been ruling the screen for 21 years. And yet, the way she respects a director, the value she gave me when I spoke; it was mind-blowing. That’s why they are superstars—because of this quality. To trust a new filmmaker like me, she had to unlearn so many things. She has done bonafide commercial stuff like Varsham and Ghilli with such excellence. From there, she worked in my show where she had to be so understated and subtle. The nuances, vulnerability and eccentricity she brought, nobody else could have.
Where do you see yourself fitting in the current Telugu cinema landscape?
I am a mainstream cinema buff. I like my Pushpa and RRR. I feel Telugu cinema has everything, unlike Tamil cinema which has more focus on arthouse stuff. At the same time, I like honest films. I like that space where you can place a star in a script that has heart, like Mahesh Babu and Venkatesh in Seethamma Vakitlo Sirimalle Chettu, where you can make grand film with stars that touch upon topics that people should love and connect to.
What's your take on the evolving OTT space? It began as an alternative to the big-budgeted movies, but is becoming increasingly star-driven now…
At the end of day, you have to bring in audience. We need stars, they are what drive any system. Of course, there is an exception like Scam 1992 where a new face like Pratik Gandhi drove the success. But for other things to work and for those who are investing, the money needs to keep coming in — and it won’t happen without traditional and established processes.
Could you tell us something about your upcoming projects?
I have finished three scripts; all of them are for feature films. One is a forest adventure, which I wrote after Brinda’s post-production work. One of them is almost ready to be greenlit.
I will come back to doing web series when I can make it without as many constraints. I like the long format though. You get a lot to explore, you can deep dive and come out happily. If Brinda was made into a film, it would have become just another thriller, without any discussion about its ideas and themes.
You have worked with eminent filmmakers like Sekhar Kammula, Hanu Raghavpudi, Anish Kuruvilla. Please share your experiences from those days..
Anish Kuruvilla is such a pure-hearted man. If after my parents, if someone who is going to be most proud of me for making this show, it’s Anish. Hanu Raghavpudi, meanwhile, is like a brother. Anytime I need help, I will call him.
And the way Sekhar Kammula lives, that’s where I get inspired from. He lives the path and the messaging that reflects in his film and life. I don’t know if it’s a romanticised version, but for me Raghu (the good cop in Brinda) is Sekhar gaaru. I got inspired by Sekhar gaaru when I was working on his sets. Unlike Hanu or Aneesh, Sekhar gaaru never had any special focus on me. There were other ADs around, and I was looking from a corner, as a Junior AD.
A few days ago, my mother asked me, surprised how I came up with this series idea. I’d say it’s just my understanding of certain people. I want to help like Anish Kuruvillla, I want to be brotherly like Hanu Raghavpudi, and I want to live like Sekhar Kammula. I took that, and put them in my story.
Do you feel you have more clarity on the existential questions, now that you have made Brinda?
I definitely have more clarity on it. But I will truly know if I walk that path, of doing those things that Brinda is doing. I am still not as good as Sekhar gaaru, who actually implements those philosophies. I am still juggling between ambition, passion and (takes a long pause) vairagyam (detachment). I am still to reach a point, where I can say, ‘I know this.’
