Sekhar Kammula: ‘When people discuss issues I raise in my films, it’s as though my writing madness has paid off’

Director Sekhar Kammula on addressing caste and gender discrimination in his new Telugu film ‘Love Story’, starring Naga Chaitanya and Sai Pallavi

Following the second wave of COVID-19, no other Telugu film has managed to generate as much anticipation for its theatrical release (on September 24) as director Sekhar Kammula’s Love Story. It brings back the hit combination of Kammula and Sai Pallavi after Fidaa (2017), accompanied by Naga Chaitanya. A day after the glitzy pre-release function in the presence of Chiranjeevi and Aamir Khan, the director settles down for a chat at the Asian Cinemas corporate office in Hyderabad, to discuss the film and his own journey that hasn’t been conventionally mainstream. Excerpts from the interview:

Incidents of caste and gender discrimination have become a constant. Leader (2010) was about a crusade against corruption but I also touched upon caste. Arjun Prasad (Rana Daggubati) hates the casteist approach of his father’s older brother. I have been wanting to discuss caste and gender and Love Story gave me the scope to do it.