Nani: My sister Deepthi surprised me with ‘Meet cute’

Siblings actor-producer Nani and writer-director Deepthi Ganta open up collaborating for the Telugu anthology ‘Meet Cute’ and their passion for cinema since childhood

Deepthi Ganta first heard the term Meet Cute in the 2006 Hollywood film The Holiday, in a conversation between the characters played by Kate Winslet and Eli Wallach. The memory stayed. Years later, when she wrote a series of five feel-good, conversational short stories on urban romances, she thought it would be an apt title. She shared the screenplays with her brother — actor-producer Nani — who encouraged her to direct them. The journey culminated in the Telugu anthology Meet Cute marking her debut as writer-director, produced by Prashanti Tipirneni and presented by Nani, and will stream on Sony Liv from November 25. 

In this free-flowing conversation at Nani’s office in Hyderabad, the siblings recall their love for cinema. “Nani was a fantastic storyteller when we were growing up. If I missed watching a film, he would narrate it with such flourish that when I eventually watch it, the actual film may not match his narrative style,” Deepthi recalls. 

She watched both Telugu and Hindi films while he queued up for the massy Telugu films at Satyam theatre, Ameerpet. “Basically, she was good in academics and loved cinema; I was bad in studies and loved cinema,” says Nani. At home, they fought over television content and the remote bore the brunt. “Often the remote would be taped to be held together; we even knocked off the buttons on the TV set and had to operate it using pins.”

While he entered cinema as an assistant director (AD) and then became an actor, she graduated in mechanical engineering, pursued a master’s in business and engineering management and took up a corporate job in the USA in 2005. 

Deepthi, who has been a sounding board for Nani’s ideas, points out the contrast between them, “When he narrates, you can visualise the scenes. I express myself better when I write. I would write when I needed to process my thoughts; I would also write short reviews of some of Nani’s films and he liked reading them. Once when I came home on vacation, he suggested I write a story about a girl child. I wrote it and he said it would make for a short film.” 

Deepthi was content writing it, but was encouraged by Nani to direct it. “I had to return to the US in four days and had no knowledge of camera angles or shot divisions. He provided me with all the production help and asked me to give direction a shot.” 

Nani chips in, “I spent some time on the sets and observed that she had a clear vision about how each scene should look on the screen. She also had the ability to bond with the cast and the crew, making them rally around her like a family.”