Meet Vidyadhar Kagita, director of the Telugu film ‘Gaami’

Interview: Meet Vidyadhar Kagita, director of Vishwak Sen-starrer Telugu film ‘Gaami’. Also starring Chandini Chowdary, Gaami releases on March 8. What began as a crowdfunding film grew exponentially to be supported by UV Creations and narrates the story of an Aghori who ventures to the Himalayas to find a cure for his rare condition.

A video offering glimpses into the making of the Telugu film Gaami, released a few days ago, took movie buffs by surprise. Since 2018, the team led by debut director Vidyadhar Kagita and producer Karthik Sabareesh, has been at work, filming in locations ranging from sub-zero temperatures on snow-capped Himalayas to a sweltering village in South India. The Vishwak Sen-starrer, scheduled to release on March 8, began as a crowdfunding venture and later, production house UV Creations stepped in. 

While working on the post-production at Sarathi Studios, Hyderabad, Vidyadhar takes time out for this interview on a balmy afternoon. While movie lovers who are curious about Gaami commend him for the courage to try and push the boundaries of Telugu mainstream cinema, Vidyadhar states with a smile that this ambitious film is the result of his “innocence, madness and stupidity” to take a leap of faith into the unknown. “I don’t know if I will ever be this innocent.”

A few real incidents, which Vidyadhar chooses not to disclose at the moment, sparked Gaami. “I reinterpreted the real events and began writing, incorporating my fascination for the mountains.” Vidyadhar reveals that the film will have three parallel stories. Vishwak plays Shankar, an Aghori who cannot feel human touch. He has to venture to the Himalayas from Haridwar for a cure. “This search for a cure for his physical issue also leads to an internal journey,” says the director. Chandini Chowdary, MG Abhinaya, Mohammad Samad and Harika Pedada are cast in other crucial parts.

A mechanical engineering graduate from Malla Reddy Engineering College, Vidyadhar has written and directed the short films Vara and Vaitarani. Karthik, who produced Vara, saw the potential in Vidyadhar’s story and encouraged him to make a feature-length film.

It began with the idea of making a feature film within a budget of ₹25 to 40 lakh and soon grew much bigger. Karthik, who was on the production team of the 2018 crowdfunded film Manu, suggested taking the crowdfunding route for Gaami as well. Vidyadhar went on a location recce, the team shot some footage and made a pitch video for crowdfunding, announcing the budget as ₹85 lakh. There were further changes in the budget as the film progressed. Though Vidyadhar refrains from disclosing the amount raised through crowdfunding, he says they were able to raise about 30 to 40% of the amount they had intended to and the remaining came through a loan and UV Creations. “The film also grew bigger than we anticipated, so we could not rely only on crowdfunding.”

The process of researching and writing the film took Vidyadhar to the Himalayas, Haridwar and Varanasi. Initially, he wanted to veer away from mainstream Telugu cinema. “As I worked on the script, I realised the importance of catering to a larger audience. I wanted to do something new within the format of mainstream cinema.” He roped in his friend Pratyush Vatyam to write the dialogues and “since his contribution was much more, I decided to share the writing credits with him.”

The writing process that began in mid-2017 was completed by mid-2018. Vidyadhar describes the film as an adventure drama but adds that the diktats of the genre have been tweaked so as to avoid predictability.