Vishwanath Maganti didn’t have to wait long to direct his first film. Tolu Bommalata that releases in November is being produced by his uncle Durga Prasad. Vishwanath worked in an animation studio and also worked as a writer with new directors. He began his apprenticeship in producer Dil Raju’s office by assisting as a writer for directors Venki Atluri, Venu Sreeram and Saikiran Adivi. He is glad that his business didn’t work out after which his parents allowed him to pursue his dream. He learnt visual effects hoping it will be of some use in directing a film.
He reminisces, “I struggled for a year in Hyderabad and worked for a few months with director Jeevan Reddy for Dalam and then I shifted to Dil Raju’s office. I began writing a story in this process as my colleagues said there is no point working as an AD for years together if I had a good script on hand. I wrote a love story and since it had budget issues, so I came up with a family drama titled Tolu Bommalata . I wanted Rajendra Prasad to play the central character, he had already done strong roles and thought he was the apt person to lead the story. He plays an aged man who has high values in life.”
Vishwanath Maganti
The script deals with the successive generations putting more focus on money and savings. In the process of earning money, we are forgetting our values and turning into puppets or Tolu Bommalu . A generation’s impact definitely falls on the next, says Vishwanath and adds, “For example in the film, a father tells his children not to share the news of they buying a car with the cousins as the latter might feel jealous. There is another instance when the children are told not to attend a family function as they were not invited.”
Vishwanath stresses that we need to give utmost respect to a producer; Only if a producer likes a story, it will reach the audience. He praises Dil Raju’s passion and commitment for a story and says he learnt a great deal from him. ‘Musalode Kani Mahanubhavudu’ was the original title. Every character in the story is important so Vishwanath wanted a title that focusses on all characters, hence finalised Tolu bommalata . When we see the motion poster, we notice each character being introduced through a situation. All the pictures of different characters are taken from different situations in a scene. Ditto with the voice.
Vishwanth and Harshita play the lead and the love story unfolds against an office back drop. There are positive characters in the film too. The film was shot at Kesanapalli..30 kilometres from Amalapuram. There are plenty of coconut plantations and the crew spotted Manduva homes through drone cameras. They are basically open verandahs covered by four sides. Each family resides in each room and they come out and assemble and watch the rain pour into the centre. Says vishwanath, “There are people who don’t go to meet relatives in the villages during festive occasions, they prefer to stay at home and rest. We are 52 people in the family..with cousins and extended relatives. Now, none visit my granny…she lives alone. No one visits her on a festival and she consoles herself and explains to people that her folks are busy with their lives. My story triggered at that point and kept developing it.”
The film was shot for 45 days and the dialect spoken in the movie is East Godavari. Suresh Bobbili is the music director, he is working on Virata Parvam now. Satish Mutyala of Malli Rava and Rowdy is the cinematographer. Vishwanth, Harshita and Rajendra Prasad, Vennela Kishore are the key players in the story.
