Sri Simha Koduri in director Phanideep’s Telugu movie ‘Ustaad
| Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
Sometime in 2014, when Phanideep gazed at the street from his balcony on the third floor of a residential colony in Hyderabad, he spotted a boy trying to fly a kite. He took a photograph. “I was also a dreamer, like him,” he recalls. That image of a boy wanting to conquer the skies, coupled with his love for bikes, sowed the seed for the story of Ustaad, the Telugu feature film which he has written and directed.
Days before the film’s release on August 12, Phanideep is confident and yet nervous that his film releases in the same week as that of Rajinikanth starrer Jailer and Chiranjeevi starrer Bholaa Shankar. He says about Ustaad, which is the name of a bike in the film, and stars Sri Simha Koduri, Kavya Kalyanram, Gautham Menon, Anu Haasan and Ravindra Vijay, “If we get good feedback from the initial shows, the long weekend leading up to August 15 can work in our favour.”
Motorcycle diaries
The film follows the story of Sri Simha’s character Surya, a pilot, who goes in search of his lost motorcycle named Ustaad, which served as a catalyst in his personal and professional journey. “There is a bit of me in Simha,” says Phanideep who believes that films are an extension of a writer-director’s personality and experiences. The idea began in 2014 as a short film and grew into a feature film in the next five years. “I matured as a person and that reflects in the characters I have written.”
Phanideep makes his debut as writer-director with the Telugu movie ‘Ustaad’
| Photo Credit:
Special Arrangement
Much of the writing and pitching to producers happened in 2018 and 2019. Phani was going through a rough patch and had little money to spare. He rented a cabin at C-Space (a co-working space for cinema) for three months, at ₹4000 a month. “That is the amount I could spare. I had to complete writing within that period and get things moving.” Ustaad took shape as a story set in a suburb not far away from the Shamshabad airport in Hyderabad.
Phanideep describes Ustaad as a character-driven story. “Simha plays a hot-blooded youngster who shows his aggression on things he possesses. The girl he loves (Kavya as Meghna) thinks that she might also be subjected to a similar anger from him.” While writing the relationship portions, Phanideep says he was conscious that the girl’s character should not come across as a pushover. “Some of the producers I pitched the story to would tell me that the audience would not notice minor aspects, but I was particular that certain (gender) sensibilities cannot be changed.”
Before ‘Balagam’
He had signed Kavya much before she became a household name with Balagam. “She used to ask me a lot of questions and that also helped me finetune her character.”
Sri Simha Koduri and Kavya Kalyanram in ‘Ustaad’
| Photo Credit:
Special Arrangement
Ravindra Vijay plays an alcoholic mechanic who repairs Ustaad from time to time, Gautham Menon plays the pilot captain and Anu Haasan plays a progressive single mother. “I tried not to be a fanboy while directing Gautham sir. And, Anu ma’am initially met us with the intention of turning down the film. But after we got talking, she agreed to do the film. I am lucky to have good actors on board for my first film.”
Phanideep was an assistant director for Chandamama Kathalu, made short films and worked in television for two years. He also got an insight into filmmaking at the AAFT University of Media and Arts, New Delhi. But he says the actual learning began after film school. “I learnt that people management is the most important aspect of filmmaking. When people vibe well, cinematic magic happens.”
The director’s stamp
Phanideep grew up watching commercial cinema and was well-versed in how directors presented whistle-inducing moments, songs and action sequences. He recalls watching Krishna Vamsi’s Danger, which had no songs. He also goes back in time to recallSekhar Kammula’s Anand, which was released alongside Chiranjeevi’s Shankardada MBBS. “I was amazed at how Kamalinee Mukherjee’s character was written. She has the courage to call off the wedding at the last moment and stand her ground. That film had the stamp of a director.”
Director Phanideep
| Photo Credit:
Special Arrangement
As he awaits the audience verdict for Ustaad, Phanideep says, “A lot of people told me not to put too much of myself into my first film. But I was firm. If the film does not reflect my sensibilities and show what I am capable of, what is the point? I hope the film finds its audience. With the promos, we made it clear that the name Ustaad does not indicate a mass film but is a story of a boy and his bike.”