Being on jury a learning curve, says Chandra Siddharth
##BIG-IMAGETasteful filmmaker Chandra Siddharth was the only member from the Telugu film industry in the 22-member jury that was constituted to select films for the 49th International Film Festival in which ‘Mahanati’ was selected. “I can’t talk about deliberations in the selection of movies,” but he said that he likes to share his experience of being on the national jury. “It has been a learning experience which sharpened my mind. I was exposed to great cinema and returned with bountiful of knowledge about new-age realistic movies which dabbled in bold themes like lesbianism and LGBT with distinct flavour. Gone are the days of an art film being message-centric and made in yawn-inducing slow pace,” he points out.
The director of films like ‘Aa Naluguru’ feels that Telugu stars and producers should raise the bar on Telugu cinema. “If a saleable star becomes part of concept and meaningful films, then, it would be a game changer and enables us to compete with Malayalam, Tamil and Bengali films. Actually, top Telugu stars and producers know that they are dishing out mostly ‘mediocre’ movies, but they don’t want to change the pattern, unwilling to take chances,” informs the director, who says that artistic films earn more money in international festival circuits.
“There is lot of money to be tapped in international film festivals, but our makers don’t explore it, unlike the Bengali and Malayalam filmmakers,” he adds. The director, who has been in state, national and international film juries adds, “Watching four or five movies a day is not an easy task for all. You should be a passionate and staunch movie buff. As a jury member, I have no liberty to skip a movie that came as a blessing in disguise. Regional cinema giving a tough fight to Hindi movies is a heart-warming reality,” he says. Furthermore, he said, “We need a strong support system in T-town to promote young filmmakers who want to make thematic movies. I don’t know when that will happen,” he concludes.