'For cinema’s future, let’s revisit the past'

The Telugu film industry has fallen into a comfort zone at the moment. Our movies are churning out the same stories. But five years down, there is going to be a change and we will be bringing out new things. For that, we need to push our limits and start thinking outside the box.

I’ve been facing a lot of flak from the industry for collaborating with Hollywood for getting the right graphics. But they are ahead of us technologically. They were the one who invented the wheel. I’d rather use their expertise and get it right than experiment and do a less than good movie.

When you look at the movies of the past, they were actually very creative and out-of-the-box. Who could’ve thought that you could take a story and set it in Mahabharata, bring in Krishna and Arjuna and add a love story and then you have a movie called Maya Bazaar? Those movies had so much going on, and then look at our movies of today. Those movies really thought beyond their boundaries and that’s what we need to do now.

Our heroes are at that moment in a mould. But at the same time, they are very talented. The years to come will be a challenge for all of us to break that mould and that is going to be the true test.

If there is anything that needs to be changed to go beyond the movies we’re making, first it has to be the screen play. After that, it’s production value.

Look at the vision of the films that have been successful. Look at Avengers. The movie was made on the same set as I am Legend. Compare the two movies and see what the director’s done with it. Notice the camera angles at which the film has been shot. How you visualise your movie is very important because it sets the tone for the rest of the team and also the outcome of the movie. For that kind of visionary ideas, the director has to have a lot of guts. He needs to see the future, make his movie and stick to his guns. And it isn’t just him, everybody in the industry needs that. Not that we don’t, but to keep creating something new takes a different kind of courage.

One of the reasons that India doesn’t make futuristic films is because we don’t see a future. When people here think of the future, all they see is a big bunglow, three cars and everybody well fed and happy. We’re very selfish that way and as long as we’re set for life, we don’t really care beyond that. And that is why our films are also like that.

The irony of the situation is that the good movies that have been coming up, especially the ones from Hollywood with those excellent graphics, have Indian brains behind them. Their teams will be half-filled with our fellows, because here nobody gives them the space to create.

(Vishnu Manchu is a Tollywood actor and producer)