Directing a movie and releasing in theatres is not that easy: Abhiram M

In recent times, many directors like Tharun Bhasker, Sandeep Reddy Vanga, Shiva Nirvana, Nag Ashwin, Prasanth Varama came into Telugu film industry after whelming wonderful short films. Now, a new name M Abhiram, who made his debut film "E Kathalo Pathralu Kalpitham" starring Pavan Tej Konidela is added in the list. The film was recently released and received huge applause from the viewers. The filmmaker says, "It was not a cake walk for me in this industry. A lot of struggle made me stand where I am today."

Abhiram shared his life experiences and journey with "the Hans India". Let's have a look into it.

From short films to feature film, how it all started?

I finished my graduation in 2016 in AITAM College in Srikakulam. The interest on film making started at the time of my graduation only. Initially, I used to make films with mobile camera, later upgraded to handicams and 5Ds and started uploading them in YouTube. Some of my short films like "Wanderlust", "Ramayya gari Kala" and others gained huge appreciation from public which built a lot of confidence in me. This made me to take another step of previewing my short films in Vizag and Nizamabad. At that time, Tollywood producer 'Dil' Raju announced 'Chithrapuri Film Festival' in which our short films were previewed. The biggest advantage to me in making short films is my teamespecially Pankaj, Tiru and Shiva. Each one has interest on one department. So, it was easy for us to make short films and all our short films are zero budget short films.

I nearly made 40 short films and then moved to Hyderabad after deciding movies as my career. I started writing scripts and narrating them. After one year of struggle, I returned to my home town due to family issues and strted doing a job in KL University which also related to media sector. My mentor CEO of Founder leadership foundation Vijay Sai P, who supported me in my graduation, also, helped me in getting the job. Later, after becoming financially strong, made my way to Hyderabad and repeated the process. One of my friend made me to narrate script to Pavan Tej and he introduced me to producer and that's how the film started.

What are the struggles faced before getting a chance in film industry?

I got a chance in the industry early when compared to others but the struggle scenario is same to everyone in my point of view. There is backup for me here which troubled a lot. At a point of time, if career is not there in this field, I don't have any other option. So, directing a movie and making it release in theatres is not that easy for me. I belong to a middle class family and I am the elder son. So, I have to take care of it. Under these circumstances, I was surrounded with many suggestions from relatives and friends. Though, there was no suffering from hunger but overcoming these was really a big struggle for me.

Is there any pressure in handling a hero from Mega family?

Definitely, I have to say no because I didn't write the script based on a hero. So, after getting chance to narrate Pavan Tej, I told him that there will be no heroism in this film and the story plot doesn't run on hero. As Pavan Tej is also not that interested in making routine commercial film, he listened the script and took me to the producer. From that day, Pavan Tej took the pressure from my shoulders and he answered if anyone raised a doubt on the film.

What are the difficulties you faced in film making time?

I always believe that there should be connection between the director and remaining cast and crew. So I asked some technicians with whom I will be comfortable with. So there are no such difficulties faced.

Now, many films are coming in OTT, why should audience watch "Ee Kathalo Paathralu Kalpitham"?

I would definitely say the plot of the story. As we mentioned in the tagline, 'Everything is intertwisted', every person will feel thrill seeing the twists in the film. The entry of every character will shock audience. We didn't reveal Noel Sean in the film. While I watched the film with audience, they got surprised seeing him. There will be many surprise elements in the film. It will be soon premiered in aleading OTT platform.

As you are a person who came from digital platform to silverscreen, which one you choose is the best?

Both are best in their own way. For example, if you have reputed artists and a good producer, theatre should be your preference. In case, you are going with an experiment with new comers, you should go with OTT because crowd pulling will be tough with newcomers until the producer is strong. So, it is dependent on the story, cast and crew. While coming to the efforts, both are equal.

What are your future projects?

I committed a film with "Srihaan Cine creations" which is a Bollywood production house. I will be their Tollywood debut and pre-production works are in progress. B Chandrapriya Subudhi will be bankrolling the film. Shoot will be started in the last week of April.