Interview with Jandhyala

This is Jandhyala's last interview (also first and only web interview). I met him in January and spoke to him for more then hour. He was very humble and down to earth. I requested a photo along with him. He said he liked me a lot and want to meet him again. As I was busy shuttling between Mumbai/ Bangalore / Hyderabad that never happed. So I lost the opportunity of taking his photograph...

I called on Thursday morning for an interview with him. He said he is in some pooja that day and asked me to come on Friday morning 10.00. so I landed at his house five minutes to ten. Two cute babies I met at the door are sahiti and sampanda who are playing with their puppy. The front room was an ordinary upper middle class hall and there are many trophies in the shelf of his success stories. The room was half occupied with the yesterday�s pooja. (he informed me later that he is big believer of puttaparthi sai baba and on Thursday was his pooja.) After initial hello's we started our interview. And here are the experts for you...

- By SRI

Sri : Hello, sir! Thanks for giving your time. Can we know your full name please?
Jandhyala : (laughs) it is not that I don't want to tell my name or that it's a secret; it's too lengthy! So, from the day I started writing stories, I am known by my surname alone. All my bank accounts are in the same name too! I wonder if I really remember my full name!
When were you introduced to films?
I went to Madras in 1974, I guess, to play a drama, upon getting an invitation from Kalaasaagar. That's when I had the opportunity of meeting Sree B. N. Reddy who made the films like malleeSwari. He saw my work on dramas and offered me to work on the film based on puNyabhoomI! kaLLu teru novel by Beena Devi. But unfortunately he was hospitalized soon after that and passed away eventually. I thought of going back to Vijayawada, as that film was stopped. Then producers Anandamohan and Hanuman Prasad offered me to work for their films. So, I wrote both the films but dEvuDu chEsina peLLi was released first. Then came peLLi kaani peLLi. After that, Viswanath offered me sirisirimuvva. Then I got offers from Raghavendra Rao and others. I wrote stories for few movies, screenplay for few more, and dialogues for a few others. I wrote for 200 films in those five years. In 1981, I directed my first film mudda mandaaram. From '81 to now, I completed 42 films. After 1981, I wrote another 150 films.

Sri : How does the experience in dramas help in films?
Jandhyala : It helps a lot. Either in creative side or in acting side, it helps a lot. You get a basic knowledge of acting in drama. Practical is always better then theory. Dramas get instantaneous reaction from the audience, and the actors will know what is right and what is wrong immediately. Similarly, a writer gets the message as to which scene the spectators like and which they do not. This is of a lot of help while writing the script and dialogues. So the stage always helps actors and technicians to improve before coming to the film industry. But basically, the off-stage or off-screen working is same for both.

Sri : Did you write any plays after coming to the industry?
Jandhyala : Yeah, I wrote some plays that were enacted by film artistes. I was too busy between 1976 and 1981. I used to write for four to five films a day, and thus was unable to write during that time. I had to attend discussions for story and dialogues with the crew. For example, while I was working for sirisirimuvva and aDavi raamuDu simultaneously, I used to have story discussions with Vishwanath in the morning, and with Raghavendra Rao in the evening, and a few others approached me some time during the day. I used to be too busy with all that. After I became a director, I got some leisure and I again took up writing dramas. Even now, I like to write dramas. Recently, the Chief Minister was impressed to watch a comedy play of mine, that was enacted by Kota Sreenivasa Rao and others.

Sri : You probably lost a few films as a writer, when you turned to direction, though you were the highest-paid and most-wanted writer during 1976-'81
Jandhyala : Yeah, I missed some films because of this, but I used to get more job satisfaction. As a director, I feel the whole project to be mine, and that I am completely responsible for the movie. A writer is only a small part of the film, but as a director, I am the whole and sole. I get completely satisfied when I direct a film, as I can convey to the filmgoers what all I have on my mind; I cannot do that when I am just the writer. I completely agree that writing is feasible monetarily, but it cannot buy satisfaction.

Sri : You said you worked with directors like Viswanath in the morning and Raghavendra Rao in the evening. But both have different way of thoughts and presentation. How did you mould yourself to their line of thought so quickly?
Jandhyala : I think both have one thing in common. Vishwanath is aesthetic director with a commercial touch, and Raghavendra Rao is a commercial director with an aesthetic sense. Raghavendra Rao too hasn't worked out vulgar comedy or shown nudity to attract the spectators. Both of the directors work in their own ways, but never walk in the clouds. I am happy with both the directors, and I learnt a lot while I worked with them. That's when I learnt to write a screenplay or a story for a film. They are my gurus.

Sri : You worked with young actors for your first two films as a director. What made you bring the change, instead of working with senior artistes?
Jandhyala : Yeah, I worked with youngsters that were fresh faces to the screen. Before that, senior heroes like NTR, ANR, Sobhan Babu etc. used to play young roles, but it appeared funny when they say something like "Mummy, I just passed B.A". There were not so many heroes then, like we now have - Chiranjeevi, Venkatesh, Nagarjuna, Pawan Kalyan, etc. I remember a movie in the late 1970's or 1980's where NTR says he just passed SSLC!! Then, the directors had no choice, and the artistes didn't have a choice too - they had to play all the roles! When I want to make a love story, I opted for young artistes to make it look suitable. These two films changed the trend. Both those films played well in the theaters and were commercial hits too.

Sri : I agree they were successful, but critics commented that you were spoiling the teenagers?
Jandhyala : When the film was made, Poornima was just 16, and I portrayed the same in the film. Why someone felt that way is because one was used to see Vani Sree or some other senior heroine doing the role. So, when the spectators suddenly saw someone who is actually 16, they could not digest the drastic change. It usually takes time for people to adjust to the reality. Even then, both the films were commercial hits that changed the trend, and immediately many love stories started with that wave. That all depends on the way the story is presented on the screen. In naalugu stambhaalaaTa, I tried to show how a young couple tried to solve their problem in their own way. It may not be a big deal now, but twenty years back, that was new to people.

Sri : naalugu stambhaalaaTa was somewhat a serious kind of movie. But later you changed your trend to the comedy films. Why is that?
Jandhyala : My first full-length comedy was Sreevaariki prEmalEkha. It became a huge hit without any element of seriousness in it. There is one particular trend in the industry. They brand people with certain image. If one wants to make a film on classical arts, one immediately thinks of Viswanath, and similarly, all offers I got after the success of Sreevaariki prEmalEkha were comedy films, and thus I ended up to be a comedy film director. If we do the same thing for long, the product will get stale, I knew it from the very beginning. Spectators need variety, and I thus knew that the comedy film trend would last only for some ten years, after which I need to come afresh with something else. So my trend of comedies continued with the films like renDu reLLu aaru and aha! naa peLLanTa etc. Relangi Narasimha Rao also came at the same period and he also did comedy films. Soon, the trend changed, and comedy had to be mixed with something else.

Sri : When you were in the spree of making comedy films, you suddenly made a beautiful film based on classical dance - aanandabhairavi. Everyone wondered where you hid all that aesthetic nature in you all those days!
Jandhyala : I wanted to direct a film like that since long. I wrote for films like SankaraabharaNam, saptapadi, saagarasangamam etc., which are all based on classical art forms, and thus wanted to direct one all by myself. Luckily I saw Kondamudi Sreeramamurhty's novel and I was lucky to find a producer who came forward to make that film with me. B. A. V. Saandilya, unlike others who came to me, brought to me the venture aanandabhairavi. Gireesh Karnad played the lead role and I feel honored to work with him. It ran a good run at the box office despite the image of comedy film director I donned; it fetched me some awards too. But there is another film that I liked among the serious films I made - I liked nelavanka a lot but the film was a flop. It was supposed to win some national awards, but did not, because of cheap politics played by some person in the film industry, which I am not happy to discuss. The drawback of the film was that the movie-watchers rejected the casting. They could not convince themselves to see J. V. Somayaajulu as a muslim, while the Sankara Saastri image still didn't leave him. It won some awards though.

Sri : aanandabhairavi has good song numbers like koluvaitivaa rangaSaayi... and chaitramu kusumaanjali that were also beautifully picturized with symbolic shots.
Jandhayala : Veturi has given very good lyrics. chaitramu kusumaanjali can be compared to the traditional keertana-s of the Carnatic classical standards. They helped the movie to be a hit.

Sri : What happened to annamayya project. Why it was shelved?
Jandhyala : I think there is some curse on that subject. Only Raghavendra Rao could complete the project. Even before I did, people like Sree Pullayya and Sree C. S. Rao tried it but were not successful. Later, Aatreya tried to make the subject into a film. Raghavendra Rao adopted the same script with some minor changes. We recorded almost 50 songs under the music direction of Ramesh Naidu, with noted singers like Asha Bhonsle, Mangalampalli Balamuralikrishna, S.P.B, Janaki, etc.; these songs are now available as CDs and records in Tirupati. B.A.V. Saandilya, who was the producer for the proposed movie, passed away and the project was stalled. J. K. Bhaaravi, who was the scriptwriter for Raghavendra Rao's project, was Aatreya's assistant at that time.

Sri : You always have one complete song on love in every film, which you shot differently from the other directors! Any special reasons?
Jandhyala : I like to do some songs differently. But now, people want movement in all songs; they don't want that feel now. They need some twenty plus dancers for songs. Even for annamaachaarya keertana, they need fast movements. They want every thing like those songs in MTV. I was the choreographer for most of my films. It is very rare that I hired a choreographer, unless I needed some special movements for the songs. But now it's all changed, because of changes in people's minds.

Sri : Any idea why your commercial films were flops though they had notable commercial artists?
Jandhayala : That is because I was unable to adapt to the commercial trend. Only seetaaraama kalyaNam with Balakrishna had a good run. Baabaai-abbaai was at least an average movie, because it was a love story. Other films like amarajeevi and chanTabbaai were flops.

Sri : What went wrong with amarajeevi?
Jandhyala : The first half was good, but something went wrong in the second half, probably the presentation was not clear. Success of a film has hundred reasons, but the failure usually has just one reason - bad story and/or presentation.

Sri : What went wrong with chanTabbaai? Is it the change in the climax of the novel that flopped the film?
Jandhyala : May be yes, but what we thought is that the title should have the hero's character. There our judgment failed. That could be a reason too. We know only when the audience rejected it, but by then, it is too late. Chiranjeevi himself agrees that it is one of his best comedy films. Sometimes we miss the road and go the wrong way.

Sri : Why is it that most of your films are based on novels?
Jandhyala : I worked with novels mostly because there is one advantage in that - I already have a tested formula and I know half of the dialogues. I worked mostly with Malladi's and Yandamuri's novels. I worked on works of other writers too, say, Aadivishnu etc. Some changes were necessary to transform them into movies. But still audience change according to the trend, publicity and all other factors will add for the filmgoers.

Sri : You gave stories to a lot of commercial hits like vETagaaDu, gharaanaa donga etc. But why is that you never attempted such films as a director?
Jandhayala : When I started my first film, Sree NTR also asked me the same question. When I went to give him the invitation card for the clapping of the film mudda mandaram, he was surprised and said, "If you would have asked me, I would have given you the dates to make a commercial film!" He congratulated me, but he wanted me to try to get a commercial image. I informed him that I want to experiment with all new faces from stage. He wished me best of luck. I don't want to go into a commercial image. That time I was inspired by Sree Bharatiraaja who gave a new feel to Tamil cinema by bringing the films to villages and made good films with all new star cast. At that time, we had only those five big heroes and I tried to break that trend and make something different. As I was close to Viswanath, his impressions also inspired me to some extent. He also did the same thing - working with not-so-popular artistes, and then working with most popular artists.

Sri : Do you have any ghostwriter?
Jandhyala : I never had any ghostwriters. If I have taken the story from some other writer then I used to discuss that with him for improvement. But if the storyline is mine, I never discussed with any one and I used to develop the story myself. I feel that I am not doing justice to my profession if I have a ghostwriter. If I have taken a comedy track, I used to give credit to them. I am not saying that having a ghostwriter is wrong - the idea differs from person to person.

Sri : What are your favorite films among those you worked for?
Jandhayala : I am happy with all the movies. Every movie has everything, it all depends on the way one looks at it. Among classical films, you can see SankaraabharaNam, saptapadi, aanandabhairavi, nelavanka etc. vETagaaDu and aDavi raamuDu among commercial films, Sreevaariki prEmalEkha, aha! naa peLLanTa, etc. in the comedy genre. aha! naa peLLanTa worked in good in B-, C-centers. Every film has it own reasons to be good and I cannot list them all, it'd be too big a list. Some of the films just ran because of the good dialogues, viz., Sreevaariki prEmalEkha, vETagaaDu etc. My timing was good then, as there were not as many writers at that time as there are now. Thus, I got opportunity to work with all types of directors, which helped me a lot. They all are my inspiration to become a director. I never worked as an assistant to any director.

Sri : Can you please tell us details of your family?
Jandhyala : My wife is Annapoorna, and I have twin daughters named Saahiti and Sampada.

Sri : Any message for our readers?
Jandhayala : We have many sources, but we never got a national award. I just want to ask our people to make some very good movies to get national recognition. And I suggest all readers to invite healthy movies and reject others. It may need not be a blockbuster but it should at least be an average runner so that that director tries to make another good film. I need to see Telugu film directors like the Malayalam film director Sree Aravindan. People used to say lot of good things about our old-timer directors like Sree K. V. Reddy and Sree Pullayya. Now, there is no one here to boast of. Even Ramanand Sagar worked with Sree NTR while doing Ramayana for TV. We do have good directors, but they fear that they cannot attract the filmgoers. I want to see that day when we get a national award.

His real name is Jandhyala Veera Venakata Durga Siva Subramanya Sastry, but I got to know that only after he died. After the interview I spend more than hour with him talking many off the record things. He informed me that cinema artist Annapoorna was his heroine in his drama's, where he played hero and that time her name was Uma. And how the nelavanka film box was mis-placed so that it will not reach delhi on time. I feel so bad when I heard he died and felt guilty of not keeping his interview because of my laziness. I know it is not an excuse. I think God needs some healthy entertainment and called him so soon as he is a noble soul, who knowingly or unknowingly never harmed any one.

Acknowledgements: Sri Malladi without whom I might have not met Sri Jandhayala and Sri Nachaki without his help this article might have not come out.