Chit Chat With Swathimuthyam Director
On the path to the film industry
I'm a native of east Godavari's Pithapuram. I went to school there and have been involved in theatre and film since I was in elementary school. I also wrote a lot of plays. When I was studying engineering, the interest turned into a passion, and I stopped going to class. With a 5D camera, we assembled a team and shot a few short films in Kakinada. This came from wedding photo shoots. One of our team members was given the opportunity to work as the assistant director on Sreekanth Addala's movie.
We accompanied him. I made numerous attempts to pitch my scripts to production companies, but all were unsuccessful. I worked as an associate on several little films, but my openness got in the way. I produced a few short films for Tamada media as well. On a tight $2600 budget, I produced a 10-minute short. A person who appreciated it later gave it a budget of Rs. 1.6 lakhs to produce "Krishnamurthy Gari Intlo." It received a lot of views, and the protagonist and heroine eventually appeared in the popular "Geeta Subramanyam" television series.
I later won Best director at the Sainma Short Film Awards. The driving force was that. The organising team chose 12 individuals and heard their testimonies. I was given a break but was unable to continue. I then enlisted the assistance of a friend who works in real estate, but that initiative also failed. I wasn't sure whether I could manage a feel-good love story with conflict and strong feelings. As a result, I spent 12 lakhs on "Sadaa Mee Premalo," a film that lasted an hour. I felt very confident after seeing the film's results.