After spending 12 years in the industry as a prominent costume designer, Neerraja Kona is all set to make her filmmaking debut with the upcoming film Telusu Kada. Starring Siddu Jonnalagadda, Raashii Khanna, and Srinidhi Shetty in the lead roles, the film promises to be a new-age love story with a novel take on contemporary relationships.
Neerraja mentions that she was very conscious of maintaining neutrality while portraying the three characters. She elaborates, “I was conscious that when people watch the film, they should think, ‘A good writer wrote this,’ instead of wondering about the gender of the filmmaker.” The debutant director also mentions that Siddu Jonnalagadda, who has also written scripts for many of his own previous films, was the sounding board for her throughout the process. “Siddu has a unique perspective and knows the pulse of the youth. I learned a lot from him,” says Neerraja.
The first teaser of Telusu Kada, which was unveiled in September, doesn’t give away much of its plot and leaves the audience on a note of intrigue, a decision that could go either way in terms of creating curiosity among filmgoers. Neerraja clarifies that it was a conscious decision to edit the teaser that way. She notes, “That teaser was literally just that — a teaser. It was like we wanted to mark our attendance, and tell the audience, ‘Yes, we are there, coming soon.’ We just wanted to register something in a fun space and not give out anything. However, the trailer, which will be out soon, will capture how the story unfolds from Varun (Siddu)’s POV and how the language of the narrative is going to be, etc.”
Telusu Kada is also a rarity for recent Telugu cinema in terms of exploring the romance genre, full-throttle. Neerraja takes cognizance of the post-COVID shifts in the movie-making industry, also admitting that it has influenced her perspective in some way. “I think we are all evolving. The dynamics of what kind of cinema is working have changed. Even my perspective, the kind of detailing I notice, has changed. Of course, the shift towards big scale began happening with the Baahubalis and RRRs,” says Neerraja, who remains optimistic about the prospects of content-driven films in the current scenario. She adds, “I refuse to use the word ‘small’ for these films. I feel the beauty of content-driven films hasn’t gone away. If you tell a story with honesty, it will work. Court proved it this year.”
Neerraja also speaks about Saiyaraa, the recent Bollywood blockbuster which too had a love story at its core, and reflects on her observations of the film’s resonance. She says, “Mohit Suri wrote it from the perspective of how Gen Z deals with their emotions. And yet, there’s that scene where the girl’s mother tells Krish that he should leave Vaani if he doesn’t intend to marry her. It’s a beautiful collaboration of a mother’s sentiment and the boy’s feelings. I feel the love stories that are coming now have to be such an amalgamation for us to be better storytellers. We tried to apply that in Telusu Kada, and I am hoping it connects to the audience.”
Even after spending over a decade on the film sets as a costume designer, which Neerraja describes as her ‘film school,’ the director’s chair brought a whole new set of learnings for her. She elaborates, “From whatever I have learned so far, a director’s work is also about dealing with so many people at once — it’s people management, but in a nice way. So, no one person should get full credit for a film.” While acknowledging that it’s a hero-driven industry, Neerraja finds it essential that every team member be duly credited. She adds, “Behind me is an army of people. So one always has to be appreciative of any help coming their way. Take suggestions from everyone, and yet don’t budge from the story you are trying to tell. Stay honest to your film. I am still learning, though.”
Talking about her next project after Telusu Kada, Neerraja says, “My next film is much bolder. It’s raw and has hard-hitting emotions. I am very fond of that story. With Telusu Kada, I merely wanted to touch the waters.”
Produced by People Media Factory, Telusu Kada will arrive in theatres on October 17.
