My mother’s work inspired me

Uppalapu Sai Krishna (Nani Krish) is the son of the legendary music maestro, late Mandolin Srinivas. Sai Krishna is a creative visual effect (VFX) animator and he proved his artistic mettle by making a few short films. Now he is coming up with a scientific-mythological drama ‘The Oppera’, which involves snow boats and dragons which are created by using visual effects.

Inspired by director SS Rajamouli, he did spoofs of ‘Eega’ and ‘Athadu’ movies, which were appreciated by the audience. About his interest in animation, he says, “My mother used to do flash animations when I was eight-years-old. Her work inspired me and I started doing it without any support,” said Sai Krishna, who is studying B Com.

As he hails from a family of musicians, Sai Krishna tried his hand at music and he started learning guitar in his childhood. However, he realised that it is not his passion and he turned towards animation. He stated that his memories with his father are unforgettable.

“I used to accompany my father for his concerts and I was too young to understand his magnificence at that time. Many people thought that I will also become a musician but I was interested in animation. The sudden demise of my father has affected me a lot and I sat alone for three months in a room. I wanted to pay a tribute to him and I did a documentary by collecting video bytes from celebrities and I added his concert videos in that,” he shared.

He started SSK Arts in 2011 to pursue his passion in animation and direction and also to give opportunities to newcomers in animation field. “Today many young people have talent but they do not have proper facilities to use their skills. I started SSK Arts to give them the required launch pad,” he informed.

About his upcoming project ‘The Oppera’ he said: “It is filled with amazing VFX works. My friends, Avinash Pandey, Siddharth and Priyanka helped me in the making it. Till now we did 60 per cent of work and it will release worldwide online in a couple of months. I hope this film will take me to another level.”

Sai Krishna wants to become a film director. “I want to direct films along with my animation works. Today, visual effect industry is growing fast and in near future, every movie will have visual effects. I am also planning to do a short film on social messages,” he shared.