A Nimble Witted Personality with a zest of learning
You’ll come across many people who’ll ask you to do the right things. But it is not often that you come across someone who will ask you to make mistakes. Sukumar Bandreddi, award-winning Indian filmmaker, producer, and screenwriter, isn’t afraid of making mistakes because he believes they have more to teach than the things we do right. He learns something new with every film as he treats every movie as an experiment. Sukumar likes to generate magic through his feature representations in view of what the audience wants. From his filmography, he reflects that 1-Nenokkadine as a project has taught him the biggest lesson.
Not many people know that Sukumar worked as a Mathematics and Physics lecturer before he decided to switch careers and become a writer. Right from his debut movie, Arya, he rose to stardom, and he continues to reign as one of the best directors in the Telugu Film Industry.
Sukumar, who is absolutely in love with what he does for a living, enjoys watching his work on screen. Understanding the struggle that young writers and aspiring filmmakers undergo, he wanted to launch a platform where budding talents get an opportunity. His venture, Sukumar Writings, is an initiative where he gives the youth a chance to explore their skills. It is with this decision that Sukumar turned a producer, thus paving the way for new-age directors to make a mark.
With only one motive- to produce movies and share ideas that the audience likes, Sukumar has worked on several Telugu movies since 2004. Trying to meet director’s ideas to match the audience’s frequency is a challenge, and he cannot agree more. “I think movies need to have a life and cinematic wit in them. Indian films require a portrayal of emotions to win the hearts of the public. It is much different from Hollywood films that revolve around one emotion. This is why songs and fights become vital for the dramatic genre.” It is balancing such elements that Sukumar finds thought-provoking, but he aces it with his creative insights.
With the certainty that it is difficult to match the audience’s pulse, but not impossible, Sukumar has rendered several superhits. Awards like the Filmfare Award for the Best Director- Telugu and the Nandi Award for the Best Screenplay Writer for the film Arya decorate Sukumar’s profile. Recently, he also won the Best Director Award for the movie Rangastalam. The same movie also won the award for the best sound design.
Sukumar obsesses about his scripts, which he thinks is his strength and weakness. Always pouring with a gallon of ideas, he finds it trying to pick one idea that he thinks is best. Hence, he ends up recreating the script until he thinks it is flawless enough to be liked by fans. No doubt, he won the reputation of creating multi-layered scripts that received massive acclaim. It is for this reason that in his fifteen-yearlong professional journey, Sukumar has made only seven movies.
Directors get to create a two-dimensional and three-dimensional world through films. Creating characters, aligning his thoughts, and visually implementing them into the real world thrills Sukumar. Creating such a world boosts him, and he accomplishes this with a firing passion. Writing a script, shooting it, and sharing the story in the form of a movie involves a lot of groundwork. Making sure that the story doesn’t derail itself at all times and carefully threading the movie drives the zealous Sukumar to practice the craft and create more blockbuster movies.
Sukumar’s success mantra is to learn throughout the journey. Always focusing on creating what people like to see, Sukumar undertakes the challenge of fashioning something commendable with every project. “As a filmmaker, you need to start from scratch, which involves tons of hard work such as casting, location, lighting, sound, music, costumes, editing, and a lot more. The challenge lies not just in doing that but also in the learning,” he shares.” He further recommends every filmmaker to feel proud of what they create because it is a showreel that expresses all the work that goes behind making a movie.
The director & producer regrets not making many mistakes as he feels he missed many learning opportunities. The fact the youth is surrounded by millions of prospects makes him happy. He urges the youngsters around him to explore as much as they can before they settle on what they want to do for a lifetime.
Rooted and experimental, Sukumar Bandreddi is a master at sketching characters and visual impression!
