Siddharth’s upcoming film 180 marks the debut of P Jayendra who has been at the forefront of several technological changes in Indian Cinema like introduction of DTS, Qube and Avid. At the age of 55, Jayendra has decided to make his first feature film, 180 which has Siddharth, Priya Anand and Nithya Menen in lead roles. Incidentally, Jayendra is Siddharth’s mentor which led the actor to take up the project almost immediately. In a free-wheeling chat with 123telugu.com, Siddharth shares his experience of acting in this film and why he believes that this film will set a new benchmark in terms of digital cinema in India. Read on….
What’s 180 all about? How did it all start?
180 is an emotional film for me because my mentor Jayendra is making his debut as a director. I began thinking about films after watching him direct ad films. I don’t think Jayendra had a specific set of audience whom he wanted to impress when he set out to make 180. Some of my films in the past had started with other motivations such as ‘lets give the audience some sort of film,” or lets showcase a hero in this manner. So, when an experienced technician like Jayendra told me that he likes certain kind of films and he wanted to make it in a way he knew, I agreed. 180 is an original and personal film from Mr.Jayendra. I didn’t think of the audience and commercial aspects when I decided to do the film and I agreed because I had my own reasons – 1) I could learn so much from Jayendra and grow as an actor 2) The role itself was quite challenging.
The philosophy behind 180:
There’s an underlying philosophy which is conveyed through my character – Naaku Telisindhialla ee roju gurunchi maatrame, Ninnatiki gurinchi alochana ledhu, repati gurinchi baadha ledhu. (All I know is to live today, I don’t think about yesterday and I don’t worry about tomorrow). I have lived my life with this philosophy because my father also taught me a similar philosophy. He used to tell me to work hard and not think of the result because we don’t know what might happen tomorrow. So, in a way I could connect to the script instantly. The story revolves around one character in the film. I won’t reveal why the two girls call me AJ and Manu; you’ll have to see the film to know more. And you’ll know why the film is named 180 when you see the film.
The film has been made with a good intent:
There’s a belief that if your intent is good, then the film’s result will automatically be good. This film hasn’t been made for a specific audience; in a way even if it was made 20 years ago, it would have been the same film. It’s my first bilingual film. So far I have shied away from doing bilingual films because no matter how good your dubbing is, there’s always a case of loss of nativity factor. Here you won’t feel such thing because it’s a very urban film. We also shot a lot in foreign locations like USA and Malaysia. Since it was a bilingual film, it was a little easier to recover the budget. I am not the kind of actor who can command huge budgets, but for this film I think we’ll land in a safe zone even before the release. Since it’s a bilingual, the satellite rights, audio rights and advertising tie-ups are from two languages. Every film requires a lot of hard work and dedication. Usually, when I go to a film’s screening my thoughts are always about whether the producer will get back his money or not, but for this film bit I am more relaxed. Jayendra keeps saying, “I have made the film with lot of honesty. So, when I see the film I am entertained. People like me will be entertained as well.” We will know who these people are on June 25 when the film releases. Until then, it’s a question of intent. Some of the producers whom I respect like Suresh Babu, Allu Aravind and Dil Raju keep telling me that if you are intentions are right and if you can make a film without diluting it, then you’ll be in a safe zone. There’s a criticism that it’s the lack of conviction which spoils the prospects of a film. You don’t know what the audience wants and how the market condition will be six months down the line. I enjoyed doing 180 because from the beginning to the end it was a one man’s vision. I think I have done a more mature performance in the film and emotionally it was a very interesting film. It takes more of a classical approach of storytelling, something which we had seen in Balu Mahendra, Balachander, Mani Rathnam’s films in the 80s when they were making their brand of films. I saw 180 few days ago and I felt it was a tribute to that classical approach. It has a clean story, beautiful visuals, and great music and on the whole it’s a sophisticated product.
”180 is a story about young people, but it has an old soul”
I have been on an experimental mode for the past few months. People used to tell me that I do similar roles in all my films; so I had decided to at least attempt different genres. Whether the films were successful or not is a different issue. As an actor, there’s nothing more I could have done to prove a point. When the trailers of 180 were aired, some of my friends asked me who the young guy who has made the film was. I told them that he’s a 55 year old man who has done more than 500 ad films. I think, for me, 180 is a story about young people, but it has an old soul. It feels nice when people anticipate a film after watching just one trailer. I am eager to see how the youth receives the film because it’s a so called ‘hi-concept’ film with a decent storyline. Most of us grew up watching films from 80s which were so different in terms of pace, screenplay. They were really good, so I am curious about how people receive a film which follows the storytelling of the 80s with the technology, packaging of 2011.
Does the film reflect the changing face of relationships in modern times?
I don’t think so. It’s one person’s philosophy. It’s about living in the moment. Vuvuzela song is exactly about that. We don’t stop and admire the beauty of the world. Jayendra wanted to stop time and show how much beauty there is all around us. Each shot in that song had 5 layers and that took a lot of effort and planning. It was also nice to see a film where nothing happens by accident. Everything that you see on screen is creatively designed. It’s a rarity in our industry where everything is pushed to the last minute because of the chaos and over ambitious execution; although we do find brilliance accidentally. This was done more in old school Hollywood style where everything is planned. We shot for quite a long time in US and Malaysia, but I felt we were shooting in India because everything was planned so well. We shot the film on RED. One thing I can tell you for sure is that, this film is going to be a benchmark in digital cinema in India. People won’t be able to tell the format which this film has been made in, that’s the beauty of the format. Because we are able to give such an amazing quality, people might think that it’s easy to shoot with RED and also it saves a lot of costs. However, it’s not so easy. You have to plan everything carefully when you shoot with RED because you have to control the light conditions. But if you do it correctly, there are cost benefits. One thing I am convinced is that digital camera is the future of the cinema and there are so many changes every six months. Filmmaking has become easier with the advent of such technologies, but in the end content is the king. No matter what you shoot a film with, ultimately, the script, performances, technique, editing, dialogues become more and more important. On a different note, I’ll be happy if people comment that my character and performance were more mature than what I had so far. Films like these might not change the industry, but in terms of content and quality these are very important.
This is the first time since Chukkallo Chandrudu where you have had more than one heroine in your film..
I have always wondered why I hadn’t done any films with a love triangle in the classical sense. In fact, even this film is not really a conventional love triangle. The film is more about the characters I play. I was amazed at the level of detailing which Jayendra had in mind for the two heroines in the film in terms of writing their roles and performing the way they have. Once Mani Rathnam told me that it’s important to work a lot on a woman’s character because that’s what makes a love story so real. Jayendra had to work a lot to create two unique and different girl characters and I was very impressed that both Priya Anand and Nithya Menen dubbed their own voices in both Telugu and Tamil. They have done a great job.
“Jayendra, Sharreth got the lyricist Karky to write the song in Tamil and then translate it to Portuguese which in turn was sung by a Brazilian singer!”
The film has been in making for a long time, but execution took less than 5 months. It was planned for more than 1.5 years. Jayendra and Sharreth sat on the music composition for almost eight months. Sharreth wasn’t joking that he had composed 180 tunes for the film. Jayendra is a hard taskmaster. Sharreth is an original music composer. Today, you can almost create anything using short cuts. But Sharreth starts everything from scratch and constructs every note and raagam. I told Jayendra that Sharreth doesn’t seem like a commercial music composer but Jayendra was adamant that if he uses any other kind of tunes, it would work against the emotion which is portrayed in the film. The album was interesting because it doesn’t sound like any of my previous albums. When I saw the film, there was a huge leap of respect and judgment for Sharreth’s work. His music works better with the film. There are so many bonus tracks which define a mood. There’s a Portuguese song in the film. Jayendra, Sharreth got the lyricist Karky to write the song in Tamil and then translate it to Portuguese which in turn was sung by a Brazilian singer! Because this tracks comes in a small but crucial scene set in a beach in Brazil. Jayendra insisted that audience have to feel that they are in Brazil at that moment.
I really enjoyed the whole process because for the first time in years I didn’t have to think too much about what will happen. I just went on the set and learnt something more. And Jayendra also let me work on the set as an assistant director. So, even when I didn’t have any shot on any given day, I would work with several departments, helping them out with a lot of things. This is my 10th year in the industry and I just hope that 180 as a film will make me think that I have climbed one step up as an actor. Also, I worked with Deepa Mehta for Winds of Change, which has been a dream. Personally, I would like to work with more such directors who know a lot more about cinema than me.
Here are some questions from Siddharth’s fans on Twitter which he had answered:
Are you bored of playing rich and good guy roles in films? – Madhuri Adapala
I might be getting bored of good guy roles and not necessarily rich guy roles.
What was the moment when you fell in love with the script of 180? – Lidia
I think it was when the character talks about the philosophy that he doesn’t think of yesterday and isn’t scared of tomorrow. That’s exactly who I am.
What are you planning to do on the day when your film releases? – Aarthi
I usually go in to a switch off mode when my film releases because I know what’s there in the film. Sometimes I go to the theatres to see how people react.
If you had only one day to live, what would you do? – Melanie
I would be on a film set.
You stated that you are going to set up a production company. Are you going to give chance to new directors and writers? What’s the motto of your company? – Sha, Ravi Teja
For now the production company will start with many distribution deals. I still haven’t finalized whether we are going to work with lot of newcomers. Having said that, the idea is to make films which nobody else wants to make and which everyone wants to see. It’s about taking risks which I believe I can overcome and the only mission statement of the company is to not lose money of the investors. It doesn’t matter how many millions I make but I don’t want to lose money.
What interests you the most when someone approached you for a movie or script? – Aarthi
Three things :
1) Do I want to see it as an audience member?
2) Do I think I would suit the role when I watch it in a theatre?
3) Will there be something to learn from it?
source: 123Telugu
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