A film on friends and a journey

Paathshala is an upcoming Telugu film written and directed by Mahi Vraghav, who has previously been associated with Telugu films such as Village Lo Vinayakudu and Kudirithe Kappu Coffee.

Shot fully in Andhra and Telangana, the film chronicles the journey of five college friends, who after graduating, travel to each other’s hometowns.

“It’s a theme I have drawn from my own life. I used to study in a boarding school and during vacations, would travel with my friends to their hometowns,” says director Mahi. The film has five leads, three of whom, Sirisha Vanka, Sai Ronak and Nandu, are from Hyderabad while Anu Priya and Hammod are from Mumbai and Cochin respectively.

“The actors from Hyderabad were selected from a Facebook campaign for which we received 12,000 applications,” adds Mahi. Selected from the aforementioned thousands was 22-year-old Sirisha Vanka, and this will be her first film

“The filmmakers asked me to audition after they saw my photo and the shoot started in May last year,” says Sirisha, who has wanted to act since she was a child.

And Paathshala is proof that absolute newcomers can break into the scene without having much of an ‘industry background’. “No one from my family is in the movie industry. So yes, I am glad I got this opportunity” adds Sirisha.

Budget-wise too, the makers have stuck to the minimum and could boost hopes of aspiring filmmakers who are struggling with finances.

“We shot for 70 days over six months (around Chittoor and Hyderabad) and tried to focus on a variety of landscapes such as backwaters and urban areas,” explains Mahi. And the director steered away from the expensive big names with just '2 crore being spent on the film’s making.

“Yes, the movie is out in September and this is our window of opportunity. This must work for Telugu cinema and it will.”