Ramana Salva's entry to Telugu film industry happened by chance. Having finished his photography course from JNTU, when he got an opportunity to work in one of the films, he grabbed the offer. He went on to work as an assistant cameraman for 11 movies before his big break came to be a cinematographer for Village Lo Vinayakudu and Nee Thodu Kavali . However for his debut film Kudurithe Cuppu Coffee as a director, he didn’t go behind the camera. Now the director is back with his second film Yamini Chandrasekhar .
He reveals a gist of the story, “The title has three names Yamini, Chandra and Sekhar. Yamini is an archaeology student and Sekhar is an investigative journalist. It revolves around the supernatural and this scientific thriller has a love angle as well. The story unravels layer after layer using the multiple narration technique throwing light on the grey shades that travel between beliefs and blind beliefs. I don’t believe in god or ghosts but the interesting thing is…be it religion or society, from birth to death we are connected to it by rituals and other ceremonies; we perform them as formalities, even invest lakhs of rupees. We don’t know what motivates it - desire or fear. I wanted to explore it, as it is like watching old classics like Mahal and Woh Kaun Thi .”
Yamini Chandrasekhar was shot in Hyderabad over 40 days and in Araku for five days. Chandra is played by Anup Tej who had worked in Keka and a few Tamil films. Tarakratna (plays Sekhar), the main lead, was roped in after the director saw his work in Amaravati . Whenever Sekhar comes across a mysterious happening, he investigates and busts the myth. Panchi Bora plays Yamini, who does a project on blind beliefs but she encounters experiences, while questioning some paranormal activity. It’s a mystery whether it is true or a hallucination. The director says, “The film is ready but we are postponing it a bit due to a lack of theatre availability. It will be out after July 18. I had a budget constraint and the target audience is also narrow but I am positive it will be well received. Seetarama Sastry said this is one of the best films he has seen after Poltergeist . My next film is in Tamil and Nasser is writing it in that language.”
