Nandanavanam 120km and Virodhi fetched director Neelakanta critical acclaim but the films didn’t fare well at the box office. With his new directorial Maaya, produced by Madhura Sreedhar Reddy, Neelakanta hopes to fix that box office lacuna. “I think I’ve managed to arrive at the right blend of content and commercial viability,” he says, counting down to the film’s release on August 1. Maaya is not the name of a character in this film and holds an element of mystery. Meghana (newcomer Avantika) is a journalist with the rare ability of Extra Sensory Perception (ESP). “I’ve been wanting to narrate this story for a long time. The script was in place years ago,” says Neelakanta.
“A number of Hollywood films have dealt with ESP and clairvoyance. I remember the Tamil film Nooravathu Naal (dubbed as Nooru Rojulu in Telugu) and Iyer the Great in Malayalam, but none in Telugu,” says Neelakanta. More recently, in 2007, there was the Tamil film Azhagiya Tamizh Magan starring Vijay.
Unlike other psychological thrillers, Maaya doesn’t look at a larger picture of foreseeing political happenings, natural and man-made disasters, but deals with clairvoyance at a personal level. “What I like about this genre is its capacity to engage the audience. It’s fascinating and mysterious. I have tried to simplify the concept such that it appeals to a large section of the audience,” says the director. He concedes he hasn’t attempted to make a psychological study of clairvoyants and the film is better viewed as an emotional love story.
Harshavardhan Rane plays a suave fashion designer. “There are various shades to his character and I wanted someone capable of showing a range of emotions,” says Neelakanta. On his decision to cast a newcomer, Avantika, to play the protagonist with ESP, he reasons, “Perhaps that will work to the film’s advantage. I feel it’s more interesting and unpredictable to have a newcomer in this role.”
The team auditioned a number of aspiring actors before selecting three debutantes — Avantika, Sushma Raj and Nandini Rai. “They are remarkable. I explained the story to each one of them and had dialogue sessions with Avantika. I wanted them to bring in their interpretation of the characters. I don’t believe it enacting the scenes for my actors since I feel it would limit their vision. I resort to it as a last option, if they need help,” he says.
Since 2002, when his first Telugu film Show released, Neelakanta has directed eight films and written dialogues for one ( Eenadu , the remake of A Wednesday ). “I make an attempt to do something different each time. There is no line dividing art and commercial cinema these days; I’d call it middle of the road cinema,” he says. Not many know that he directed a Tamil film, Priyanka (a remake of Damini ), way back in 1994. “I’d call the years before Show a gestational period,” he asserts.
Neelakanta is aware that Tamil and Hindi cinema have more scope for middle of the road cinema where offbeat concepts enjoy commercial acceptance, but is happy that his films like Missamma were well received. He feels new ideas find takers when woven into a format that engages the audience. Citing the case of Drushyam , he says, “The film managed to say something new within a format that our audience is comfortable with — a family drama. In Telugu, after Bapu and K. Vishwanath, there haven’t been many directors who achieved that balance. Hopefully that will change.”
