Mohanakrishna Indraganti: I discovered the nuances of Priyadarshi’s performance on the edit table

Director Mohanakrishna Indraganti's Telugu comedy Sarangapani Jathakam, releasing on December 20, marks his two decades in Telugu cinema. The film stars Priyadarshi Pulikonda and Roopa Koduvayur

Sarangapani Jathakam director Mohanakrishna Indraganti’s Telugu comedy, which releases on December 20, marks his completion of two decades in Telugu cinema. The writer-director, who has explored genres ranging from crime capers to romance dramas and screwball comedies to thrillers, describes his new film starring Priyadarshi Pulikonda and Roopa Koduvayur as a comedy with elements of social satire. 

Like many of his previous films, this one is also inspired by a literary work, but he is tight-lipped about the source. “I want the audience to discover it in the theatres. I have acknowledged the source material, as always,” says Indraganti at Sridevi Movies’ office in Srinagar Colony, Hyderabad. This is Indraganti’s third film to be produced by Sivalenka Krishna Prasad, after Gentleman and Sammohanam. 

Sarangapani Jathakam is Indraganti’s first full-fledged comedy film after Ami Thumi (2017), and the director observes that in the last few years, as cinema veered towards action entertainers, he wondered if the audience is getting desensitised by the excessive violence. “Some of my friends and family also rue that there are not many comedies they can watch together in theatres. That got me thinking, and I was keen to write a comedy.”

He describes Sarangapani… as a plot-based comedy and a blend of the styles of Ashta Chamma and Ami Thumi in bringing together romance, conflict, farcical comedy and social satire. Indraganti adds that he wrote Sarangapani… like an old-fashioned comedy and a hat tip to writers such as Peter Sellers, Woody Allen, Jandhyala, DV Narasu Raju, Mullapudi Venkata Ramana and Crazy Mohan. “I have enjoyed watching some of Kamal Haasan’s comedies — Michael Madana Kamarajan (Michael Madana Kamaraju in Telugu), Panchathanthiram, Brahmachari (Telugu version of Pammal K Sammandam) and Sathi Leelavathi — and admire the writing.”

In Sarangapani…, Priyadarshi plays the titular character, whose actions are influenced by astrology predictions. Though Indraganti does not believe in astrology, certain observations by his friend, who has a keen interest in palmistry, left him intrigued. “I wondered if this is like a weather forecast; if certain patterns can be predicted. Without dismissing the belief, I wanted to explore how overdependence on predictions can cause someone to lose a sense of rationale.”

Ashta Chamma was inspired by Oscar Wilde’s The Importance of Being Earnest while Ami Thumi was loosely based on Richard Brinsley Sheridan’s play The Duenna. While adapting or drawing inspiration from international literary works, Indraganti ensures that his narratives are rooted in Telugu culture. “I identify what would work culturally. The Importance of Being Earnest was set in a certain period in England and Oscar Wilde was attacking modernism; certain satirical elements could be adapted for Ashta Chamma. I identify adaptable social situations and characters and begin writing backstories for the characters, rooted in our culture.”

Having written and directed 12 films in 20 years, Indraganti credits his writing discipline and techniques to the foundations of learning screenwriting at York University, Toronto. A firm believer in some form of training for screenwriting and filmmaking, he says, “I hear a lot of people say that it is not necessary to go to film school and that one can just pick up a camera and shoot. Would we ever tell someone who wants to become a surgeon that if they are passionate enough, they can pick up a knife and perform surgery? Some training is beneficial. Go to a film school, watch the best of films, read film theories and the history of cinema or apprentice with a filmmaker. Watch the classics, both world cinema and Telugu, and you will discover your voice and aesthetic.”