Teja for a change

Filmmaker Teja talks about ‘Hora Hori’, why he believes that duration of a film doesn’t have any bearing on audience interest, authentic cinema and why he doesn’t collaborate with stars

Branded as a love stories specialist, Teja insists that his Friday release ‘Hora Hori’ is a romantic thriller but with a difference. “It is more of a story of an antagonist (played by theatre actor Cheswa),” he states. “He likes a girl (Daksha) and is unable to differentiate whether it’s love or attraction.

His antics eventually lead the girl to develop a complex. The girl is advised to relocate to a serene place and it is at this place she falls in a love with a guy (Dileep). He brings her out of her trauma but later he gets into trauma. The follow up events form the film. It’s a story beyond love.”

He adds an as after-thought, “It is inspired by the trauma that girls go through after they are pestered to love by guys.” For the most part, the film has been shot at Agumbe, Karnataka. It is dubbed as the Cherrapunji of South. Teja confides that he explored the place with a limited crew. “We shot with only 23 members in Agumbe.

We had no art director nor did we require lights. We shot the film in natural light and that is the reason the trailer and songs look new,” he informs, adding, “The advantage of shooting with a limited crew is that you can completely rule out the nuisance that a large crew creates. We don’t need to yell at them to be at peace.

With limited crew, everyone has a defined role.” With ‘Hora Hori’, Teja says, he is trying to break the wall between commercial and art cinema. “Bollywood and Tamil cinema have tasted success with authentic cinema whereas Telugu cinema is yet to. I’m trying to break the wall with ‘Hora Hori’.

If it clicks, Telugu cinema can change. “It is an out-and-out commercial subject but it is presented in a realistic way,” Teja shares. With films running time becoming the bone of contention for many distributors to buy films, Teja maintains that audience attention span hasn’t reduced. “Distributors, exhibitors and editors have killed Telugu cinema.

I don’t believe there is any connection between the running time and a film. Nobody can dictate the length of a film except the script. Industry is in bad state because filmmakers are pulling out all stops to narrate the film under two-and-a-half hours. They are not telling the script according to its merit.

If the script has substance, audience can even watch a four-hour movie.” Ask him whether he is comfortable making only love stories considering his track record? “I tried out different films like ‘Family Circus’, ‘Oka Vichitram’ (drama) and ‘Nijam’ (social drama) but they failed. To be frank I didn’t narrate them well but they are a hit on TV and I still get appreciation messages for making them.

I don’t get calls if ‘Jayam’ is screened on TV,” he laughs uproariously. Wouldn’t it have been appropriate had he made a film other than a love story? “Actually I wrote two scripts but my team insisted that I make ‘Hora Hori’ first. I had to give in finally but had to ensure that ‘Hora Hori’ was completely new.”

Having introduced a pool of talent to the industry, Teja, barring Mahesh Babu, hasn’t worked with any star. Put that to him, he responds, “If I don’t have a hit, no star will give me dates and if I deliver one I don’t need stars. Actually I don’t bear stars and their staff.”

By Nagaraj Goud