Sreekanth Sangishetty is making his directorial debut with Deewana. His journey was anything but easy. Despite getting close to his silver-screen dream over a decade ago, he had to leave it all for job security, only to go through the exhausting routine again. A 'Deewana' indeed. “I worked as an assistant director for the film Minugurulu,” says Sreekanth. The film was released in 2012, and after that, he worked in a corporate company for a few years. “Even while working in a corporate office, I used to watch all the films. Whenever watching a below-par film, I felt that I could narrate the story better,” he adds.
Talking about the idea behind Deewana, he said the thought came from a strange imagination almost a decade ago. “The basic idea came to me nearly ten years ago while watching a TV channel. A stranger, fancying meeting a girl he saw on TV, was how Deewana was born,” he explains. He says he had to write multiple drafts as he had this story in him for a very long time. "It took 10 drafts, several years, and producers for Deewana to finally become a solid story."
His passionate debut film Deewana found support in veteran producer Allu Aravind. “I met Allu Aravind sir a long time ago. My friends joined me to visit Rama Naidu Studios. That was where I bumped into Aravind garu and sought an opportunity to narrate a story. He asked me to come to the Geetha Arts office. I tried several times, but I couldn’t meet him then. Now, after so many years, I sat at the same table with him and had coffee. It was a proud moment for me,” he shares.
Talking about the biggest challenge in making the film, Sreekanth reveals that he had to complete the entire shoot in a short period. “When the producers agreed to make the film, they asked me how many days I needed. I said 59 days, but they gave me only 30 days. Initially, I thought it might not happen, but once I started shooting, I completed it in 42 days. I had more content to explore, but because of time constraints, I completed the film within the given schedule,” he recalls the shoot strictures.
Sreekanth is also introducing several new faces through this film. “They never come across as newcomers. You will feel that they are experienced actors in the film,” he says. The first-time filmmaker has an interesting story to share on how Harshith Reddy landed the lead role in the film. “I narrated the story to a producer in a café, and he wanted to make the film within a budget of one crore. During our discussions, I told him that Harshith Reddy would be perfect for the role. I called him, and he said he would meet me, but he did not turn up. At that time, he had only done Mail,” says Sreekanth.
Adding that he had to play the waiting game for a long time, Sreekanth shares that in a way, his ceaseless pursuit of Harshith was also the reason why the film made its way to Allu Aravind. “I tried reaching out to Harshith through my friend and fellow filmmaker Uday Gurrala, who made Mail. But Harshith still didn’t respond. After making several calls, he finally came one day and listened to the story. From then on, he wanted to take the story to the producer. Through his uncle, we met Vasudev and Sridevi. I narrated the story to them, they liked it, and later they took it to Aravind garu. That is how the project happened.”
The director says he doesn’t want to reveal much about the story before the release. “It is not just about an interval bang, climax, or opening scene. You will enjoy every scene in my film, and I assure you that. I already screened the film to a selected audience from outside, and they enjoyed it a lot,” signs off Sreekanth.
