Rasool first web interview

• From the beginning my objective was very clear that I wanted to be a filmmaker. So I had chosen camera as the first step in the ladder.
• I strongly feel that the story line or the subject line should emanate from the real life experiences that too from the depth of it.
• There are two factors that guide the Industry. Money Vs Capacity or Maker Vs Creator of the film.
  
• The professional liberty leads to quality & creativity, which is directly proportional to success.

Says the young, confident Rasool Ellore directing his debut film okariki okaru starring Sreeram & Arti Chabria which is all set to release this month.

He had already made a mark into Tollywood, Bollywood and Hollywood by his Photographic Excellence through movies like Gayam, Chitram, Pyar Kiya To Darna Kya, Daud and Crocidile-2 respectively.

He started his journey towards film Industry from his native place Rajamundry as back as 1985 and after his successful career as a Photography director in all three languages, now ready with his directorial skills in Okariki Okaru.

He says that story telling is nothing but explaining emotions. When he was asked to comment on his film, he said that audiences are the best judges and the suspense will be only opened in the Silver screen.

So, telugucinema.com wishes the director a pleasant success in his venture.

Some of the excerpts from the interview:

From camera to directorial assignment through the director of photography how do you feel the present task?

The idea behind starting my journey in this Industry film as a cameraman is to lay a strong foundation to my filmmaking career. From the beginning my objective was very clear that I wanted to be a filmmaker. So I had chosen camera as the first step in the ladder.

Do you have any professional training in Photography?

I do not have any professional training, everything I had received on the job. It is my strong desire and effort that helped me to reach the directorial status.

Generally (to be on the safe side) the debut directors choose love stories, are you following the same track?

Love is the most universal subject pertaining to reality. Everybody goes through it or experiences it in their own life at one time or the other in one form or the other. I strongly feel that the story line or the subject line should emanate from the real life experiences that too from the depth of it.

Coming to the subjects such as violence and factionalism may be limited to certain areas, but love is the only phenomenon that has no boundaries or limitations.

That is the specific reason why I had taken this subject-line for my debut film. However, I don�t believe in following the track or trend whatever it may be, so the question of following the trend does not arise.

What type of story line did you choose for your film?

As already mentioned I had chosen the subject pertaining to Love for my film. Another specialty of love is that it is universal as well as individualistic in its nature, as a person who is deeply involved in it feels that his love is unique and the best in this world.

I had worked almost a year in the pre-production so that my story line has a perfect manifestation of the reality in its logical form.

Do you believe in a particular trend in the film industry? If so, what is the present trend?

There is nothing called trend in the Industry, whatever we set is a trend. Infact it term �trend� is a myth. My objective is to make a good film, a clean family entertainer.

Could you please define a good film?

A film, which is Technically: spectacular with no glaring mistakes
Logically: convincing but not stupid,
Entertainment wise: Recreating & relaxing but not boring.

Any specific reason for selecting Sreeram as hero when young heroes like NTR, Uday Kiran, Ravi Teja and Tarun are available in our Tollywood and well suited for the subject line of love stories?

Basically I found him suitable for my story line. He is also a Telugu guy. I was confident that he could deliver the goods in a perfect manner. Moreover, he is also familiar with the Telugu audiences through Roja Poolu (a dubbing film).

Similarly when are industry is importing heroines mostly from the north, can we assume that even you had followed the same line in selecting a Non-Telugu girl for your film?

It was neither deliberate nor following the present practice in selecting Bollywood girl as the heroine, Infact I had waited almost 9 months for a girl from the native background in vain.

So can we expect a Telugu girl as the heroine in your next movie?

Definitely, however it depends on the storyline.

What might be the reason behind the girls from Andhra Pradesh not readily entering into the Industry?

The conventional & traditional fears about the Industry might be the reason, but now the situation has been drastically changed. Comparatively the Industry had become a comfortable place for the girls to enter, as we are witnessing the girls from various backgrounds are making their way into the industry from North.

How far your previous assignment helped you in the present? You mean to say that both are complimentary towards each other?

My association with the Photography is definitely an added knowledge to my directorial assignment. The Present assignment demands to strike a balance between the past & present roles and that is the reason why I handed over the photography department to Mr. Sunil Reddy who received profession training from US.

Do you mean to say that Techniques adopted in the film would make a good film or a hit film?

Techniques are used just as supportive elements to the story line but never should dominate the subject of the movie. There can be a good movie with good story line and bad techniques, but there can never be a good movie with bad story line and wonderful techniques. So, the subject line is the lifeblood for any movie.

Any influence of Telugu literature on you?

Since my child hood I was a voracious reader of books, right from fiction to classics.

Are you influenced by any of the other directors? If so who influenced you most?

When the question of Impact or Influence comes it is consciously no.

I can say that my association with Ramgopal Varma right from Gayam to Satya was wonderful as I was totally left free to deliver the goods in a perfect manner.

So, this professional liberty leads to quality and creativity, which is directly proportional to success.

Since you are associated with all the three "Woods", what is the basic difference between these three?

Hollywood Work culture is highly structured and well planned both in quality and time-wise. It was so comfortable to work with the unit as almost the entire unit was well equipped with the information on the day�s schedule, absolutely there was no confusion, the things went on in a perfect manner without any hindrances.

It is the professionalism that matters in this field, there is no need for an introduction or recommendation letter.

In my case I was asked to show my work as a pre-requisite and immediately that was appreciated and I made my entry into Hollywood through Crocodile-2.

Lack of training is the major drawback for our Indian Film Industry. Almost 500 films are being produced in the Industry annually with almost 2 lakh work force involved in it. Hardly we have two training centers in the entire country.

That is the reason why our Industry is not well structured and planned. To be frank not even 20% of the unit are informed of the days schedule, so that leads to confused state of affairs in the sets and causes unusual delay.

Could you elaborate on the "Creativity" aspect? As you said in an interview that Bollywood lacks creativity rather not conducive to creativity.

What I meant was creativity is the Commercial Creativity. Let me just give a small illustration.

There are only two factors that guide the Industry. Money Vs Capacity or Maker Vs Creator of the film. Here what I meant was there should be a proper coordination and understanding between the maker & creator of the film. In Bollywood I can say that this cordiality aspect is just the minimum. In Tollywood the situation is far better. I am free of myself to strive for Quality.

Definitely Film Industry is a purely commercial media, at the same time the objective is to provide entertainment in a neat way to the possible extent.

Any reason for the lack of original new techniques in the Telugu film industry?

Take it easy attitude and lack of training facilities is the most important reason for the borrowed techniques.

What about your Future ventures?

Right now I am concentrating only on the success of Okariki Okaru, later on I would on the other venture.

How do you feel as the director?

Always a challenging profession, I won�t see the plus points or merits of my movie on the screen, I would concentrate on the left out aspects so that I can improve my self.