Think about an historical kingdom that had a matrilineal society, with a queen calling the photographs and male heirs being frowned upon. Someplace down the road, the gender equation is shaken up by a person, marking the start of a patrilineal society and patriarchal norms. Hasith Goli, author and director of Telugu movie Swag, which releases in theatres on October 4, explores this hypothetical thought by way of characters performed by Sree Vishnu, Ritu Varma, Meera Jasmine, Daksha Nagarkar and Sharanya Pradeep throughout completely different timelines.
Because the teaser and trailer of Swag point out an out-of-the-box narrative, it turns into crucial to ask Hasith Goli what triggered the story. Taking day off for this interview amid post-production work, Hasith explains, “Going by the voices that talk up for gender equality on social media, we are likely to suppose we’re shifting in the direction of a extra progressive society. Away from social media, we realise that gender disparity is broadly prevalent. This was one of many observations that triggered Swag. There have been just a few different elements, however to debate them earlier than the movie’s launch could be a spoiler.”
Swag is Hasith’s second directorial enterprise after the comedy-drama Raja Raja Chora (2021). Collaborating once more with Sree Vishnu, he was satisfied that Sree Vishnu might pull off different characters in several interval settings. Gender points may anchor the narrative, however Hasith wished to make an entertaining, non-preachy movie.
“After we ask somebody about their lineage, they invariably speak about their father, uncles and grandfather and never their mom and grandmother. Although now we have given pitru devathalu (departed ancestors) a male connotation, I gathered that the unique thought of the time period was not restricted to males,” Hasith explains, including, “A number of pockets of Kerala and Assam proceed to have matrilineal societies. I’ve additionally examine historical cultures the place ladies had been the heads of the clans and made essential selections. It made me surprise how and when issues modified.”
Absolute energy corrupts
Within the movie, Ritu Varma as queen Rukmini Devi represents the female-dominant Vinjamara Vamsam whereas Sree Vishnu performs a chauvinistic Bhavabhuti Maharaja. “Be it male or feminine, when nice energy is given to somebody for a very long time, they turn out to be domineering. We discover critical feelings however I additionally wished the drama to evoke enjoyable. All of the kingdoms and dynasties talked about within the story are fictional.”
For the present-day state of affairs as nicely, Hasith most well-liked an unspecified city metropolis. Some manufacturing designs pertaining to the Nineteen Seventies, ‘80s and ‘90s had been period-specific, whereas for others, inventive liberties had been taken.
Hasith says that some feminine characters, together with Ritu Varma, Meera Jasmine and Sharanya Pradeep are current within the king’s period in addition to within the current; Daksha performs a personality paired reverse one of many characters performed by Sree Vishnu referred to as Singareni, a wannabe influencer.
Hasith is raring to see how the viewers will reply to Meera Jasmine, who shall be seen in a Telugu movie after a decade. “Meera ma’am shall be a spotlight of the movie. She will be able to communicate by way of her feelings effortlessly,” he says. Initially, it was not straightforward to get in contact along with her. However as soon as he acquired by way of and gave her a three-hour narration, she was desirous to be part of Swag. Meera, like a number of different actors within the movie, dubbed for her half.
A number of characters and timelines
Part of Hasith’s process was to delineate the characters throughout timelines and provides them distinctive traits. Within the case of Ritu Varma, because the up to date city lady Anubhuti, Hasith wished her to be a assured, tomboyish impartial lady who sports activities tattoos but in addition shows a wannabe angle in her urge to be a staunch feminist.
Given the variety of characters and the doable backstories that outline them, how did Hasith attempt to convey all that he desires to in a concise method? “It occurs organically,” he says. As soon as he finishes writing, he shares the script along with his associates, each women and men, and gauges their reactions earlier than fine-tuning it. He additionally has discussions with the editor, music composer and the cinematographer. “They’re my first viewers,” he provides.
For Swag, Hasith is collaborating once more with cinematographer Vedaraman Sankaran and music composer Vivek Sagar. He mentions Vedaraman’s eye for element and talent to ship a slick output inside a restricted funds as he did with Raja Raja Chora. This time, Hasith and he labored on a definite visible tone for every timeline.
As for Vivek Sagar, additionally known as ‘swara swagger’ by music buffs, Hasith says, “He justifies that title by way of his music. He combines uncommon instrumentation and compositions. As an example, he used a western-tone voice for a veena composition.”
It has been just a few years since Hasith, an alumnus of BIT Pilani, gave up his company job to work with director Vivek Athreya earlier than branching out on his personal. Taking inventory of his journey, he says, “It was my resolution to enter cinema, totally conscious that nothing shall be supplied to me on a platter. So I don’t complain. I’ve a protracted strategy to go as a filmmaker.”
Revealed – October 01, 2024 02:59 pm IST