Filmmakers often go to extraordinary lengths to find their stories. Some find inspiration in real events, books, and others rely on their own figment of imagination. In filmmaker Anudeep KV’s case, he had to look back at his own life and experiences to create Jathi Ratnalu.
The film, starring Naveen Polishetty, Priyadarshi, Rahul Ramakrishna, and Faria Abdullah, has already become one of the biggest hits of the 2021. “While making the film, the only thought that was running in our minds was to entertain the audience. People have been extremely kind to us and even if there are flaws in the film, they have excused us. Frankly, the success is yet to sink in,” Anudeep admits.
Excerpts from the interview.
You made a short film, Missed Call, almost a decade ago. Was the inspiration behind writing Jathi Ratnalu considering that you’ve retained a lot of elements from that short film in this one?
No, not really. I’m a huge fan of Charlie Chaplin’s films and I love the humour in his films where he gets caught up in crazy situations and he somehow wriggles out of them. The genesis of Jathi Ratnalu was a thought of what if three friends, who hail from a small town and are clueless about how courts and police officials work, get caught up in a serious crime. Missed Call was my first short film and several years ago, Nag Ashwin reached out to me after watching that short film. He was adamant that I retain certain parts from that one in Jathi Ratnalu, and that’s what you see in Rahul Ramakrishna’s character arc, where he’s always on the phone with a girl he has never met.
I’ve never seen a character who is thrilled when he hears the sound of a pressure cooker whistle! Is there a real life inspiration behind that?
(Laughs) That’s inspired from my own life. When I moved to Hyderabad, I used to live in Krishna Nagar with a couple of friends. We used to spend the whole day watching Korean movies, cooking rice at home and buying curries nearby. That cooker whistle reminded us that it’s time to eat and I remember all of us having a delightful expression on our face every time we heard that whistle. And that memory became part of Jathi Ratnalu.
The film is loaded with pop culture references and viral videos, and it’s already become a rage among people who create memes. There’s even a reference to the infamous ‘B.Com Lo Physics’ interview, and Vennela Kishore’s introduction is straight out of a similar scene in Hello Brother, and there’s Saleem from Angrez. What are your cinematic influences?
Initially, we didn’t have that final scene in mind where Murali Sharma gives an interview to a journalist, but it felt like the right conclusion to showcase that there’s someone who’s dumber than the protagonists. Apart from Charlie Chaplin’s films, I love the worksmof Venkat Prabhu, and Hong Kong filmmaker Stephen Chow. I was thrilled when I saw Shaolin Soccer and Kungfu Hustle, and I want to make a martial arts comedy someday. For Jathi Ratnalu, the biggest inspiration behind the film is Andaz Apna Apna. All of us are huge admirers of that film and we wanted to create a playful world where the characters have no ego, no anger, and even the villains seem funny. In Andaz Apna Apna, Aamir Khan sells his father’s salon and starts a bangles shop, and I guess that’s what inspired us to have Jogipet Srikanth run a ladies emporium in his town. I’ve revisited that film so many times that I still keep hoping that they would make a sequel. Funny thing is, people who saw the film before release told me that it’s perfect fodder for a lot of memes on social media. Now, I see that I’ve been turned into a meme too. I don’t know whether to feel sad or be happy about it (laughs).
Naveen Polishetty’s performance is one of the biggest strengths of the film. What was it like collaborating with the actor?
While writing the script, I didn’t know how we were going to pull it off, but once Naveen came onboard, I didn’t have to worry too much. Naveen, Priyadarshi, Rahul, Nag Ashwin and I were always on the same wavelength, and I was more than happy to take their inputs from them about how to mould the scene in a better way. We improvised a lot on the set too. The court scene, in particular, was pretty challenging. There’s no logic behind it, but we had a gut feeling that it would work. Full credit to Naveen for pulling it off so well. If not for him, I don’t know if I would have had the courage to write it in first place. Naveen is the kind of actor who’s extremely methodical with his approach. He has sleepless nights before shoot and he makes it a point to not let me sleep properly either (laughs).
A lot of humour in the film comes from you. Do you tend to look at life in a lighter vein in general?
I grew up in Narayankhed for most part of my life, and then moved to Sangareddy after I finished class 10th. Those were some of the best days of my life. I would wake up at 5 am to play cricket and hangout with friends all day. Neither my friends or family members, nor I have any ego. If someone provokes me, I don’t get upset and feel sad. That’s how I’ve been all my life. I see humour in everything and sometimes, I end up laughing for no reason. And because of this, my family too is scared that I might put them in an awkward situation. When I was in 10th standard, my mother didn’t want me to come to my grandfather’s funeral because she thought that I would laugh and embarrass everyone!
A lot of people noticed that you don’t wear footwear, no matter where you go. I heard that you even shot the film like this. Is there a reason behind it?
Over the years, I realised that my nervous system is very sensitive. Elaine Aron’s 1996 book The Highly Sensitive Person (HSP) gave me a lot of insights into this and I know that there are others like me. I really want to understand more about this subject and write a book in future based on my own experiences. There were days when I didn’t know what was happening to me and I would go to a doctor and tell him that I have Celiac disease because I’m not able to digest gluten. But the doctor ended up reprimanding me for believing in everything that I read on Google (laughs). Truth is that I have to be careful with my lifestyle and I began trying all sorts of things to survive. Whenever I was bare foot while walking on a beach, it gave me a lot of joy and peace. That’s when I decided to not wear footwear and I feel that this technique of grounding has had a positive impact on my health. Prior to that, I had to change my food habits and turn vegan. I have to be careful about what I eat. I can’t sleep for two days if I drink coffee, but fresh juices give me a lot of energy. There are so many such dietary restrictions that now I stick to a gluten-free diet, and also avoid eating copper, sodium rich foods. My friends have given up on me, but I’ve also been able to convince some
people in my team to stick to brown rice and spinach, which are my favourites.
It’s been quite a journey for you from the days when you made your first short film to delivering a blockbuster with Jathi Ratnalu. What’s been your biggest learning experience over the years?
Missed Call, my short film, got me noticed in the industry and some people called me to write some scenes for their films. Later, I joined as an assistant director under Virinchi Varma for Uyyala Jampala. Back then, I had no big dreams of becoming a top director. My aim was to work in the film industry in whatever capacity I can and enjoy the process of filmmaking. But when you are an AD, nothing is in your control because you’ll have to wait for someone’s call to be part of their project. Eventually, I ended up directing a film, Pittagoda, which didn’t really do well. It was my first film and I was under a lot of pressure back then. I’ll always be grateful to Nag Ashwin for having faith in me and he gave me so much freedom that I was able to do something good to prove myself.
I’ve noticed that in the industry a lot of aspiring filmmakers end up working somewhere else to earn money and hope that they can return eventually to make movies. But the thing is — time never comes back. I don’t know how I managed to live in these 10 years without clarity about how my career was unfolding, but I didn’t struggle too much either. I have borrowed a lot of money from my family and friends. They had no choice but to trust me because this is all I dreamt of for almost 15 years. When I was in class 11, I had a friend named Srikanth. I told him that he’ll probably end up pursuing his M.Tech and get a well-paying job while I become a filmmaker, and we made a pact that he’ll support me financially until then. He kept sending me money almost every other month to help me. So, when I wrote Jathi Ratnalu, I ended up naming the lead character as Jogipet Srikanth as a mark of gratitude for my friend. The point is, if you really want to do something, don’t give up in between. You’ll always find help, if you leave aside your ego and ask for it.
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