Suresh Palakurthi makes a mark as a director with Telugu serials

Hailing from a middle-class background, his dream is to direct a movie

Meet Suresh Palakurthi, a Telugu television director who is driven by refreshingly new ideas to improve the content and the medium’s visual appeal. His two daily serials — Janaki Kalaganaledu and the recent Enneno Janmalabandham (remakes of hugely popular Diya Aur Baati Hum and Yeh Hai Mohabbatein) — air on Star Maa (Monday to Friday, 9 to 10 pm). While Janaki… has recently completed 250 episodes, the visually-attractive Enneno made the 100-day mark.

Directing serials with diverse stories that have been hugely popular in Hindi has been a challenge, admits Suresh. Janaki... is a slice-of-life family drama whereas Enneno... is a love story with a little girl in focus. “We had to stay true to the original story, elevate the content while not losing the Telugu nativity,” he explains.

The young director’s forte lies in handling emotional scenes. In fact, his directorial debut, Yamaleela - Aa Taruvatha (a sequel to the hit movie by the same name directed by S V Krishna Reddy) on ETV carries forward the mother-son bond. “I strive to elevate content either through visuals or emotions. In Janaki..., we had to showcase lively emotions in a family, how members squabble and the romance between a couple; but it was not intense. Whereas in Enneno… we had to show how love positively transforms an arrogant man. Exaggerated emotions or gestures will not work for all stories. When conveyed in the right proportion, emotions touch people’s hearts.”

Hailing from a middle-class family from Godavarikhani in Telangana’s Karimnagar district, Suresh’s big-screen dreams brought him to Hyderabad in 2015. His path towards direction was laid during the shooting of Maryada Ramanna by SS Rajamouli (Suresh calls him guru Dronacharya.). Equating himself to Ekalavya he says, “Analysing scenes after watching a movie was a routine during my school days. I used to think of the changes that could be made or why a scene was not shot in a particular way. I could not understand why I had these thoughts or how I was connected to those movies. Later when I saw Rajamouli garu shooting a scene, I felt connected and realised this is what I want to be.”

His journey began with the small screen as an assistant director in the serial Swathi Chinukulu on ETV Telugu. “Director Mallela Radhakrishna garu is my first guru under whom I learnt many skills. I wanted to gain expertise in television before I ventured into movies,” says Suresh, also the episode director for Mouna Ragam.