'Amrutham Chandamamalo will be a joy ride'

Gangaraju Gunnam has always trod a different path as a filmmaker (producer, director) and writer.

He is back after a gap with Amrutham Chandamamalo. The film is based on his successful television serial Amrutham.  

Gangaraju talks about his space comedy, the first of its kind in Telugu cinema, and the special effects and other work that went into making this ambitious film that releases in theatres on Saturday, May 17.

Is Amrutham Chandamamalo a take-off from your television serial Amrutham?

Yes, the characters are from the serial which was popular and ran non-stop for six years. In fact, we had to discontinue it as we ran out of ideas.

If we wanted to revisit it, we would have to churn out 52 stories a year! So I thought why not a film on a larger budget.

Amrutham is having a re-run on television and on YouTube it is going strong with 21 million views.

You seem to be walking a different path always, this time with a space comedy…

Why would people want to see the same thing unless it is a big hero film?

I have no star, so the subject has to be curiosity arousing. People have money and time but there are other avenues to spend time besides films.

Television too has films for free. So I thought I should be ambitious, pull up my socks and take on the world.

Why did you re-title the film from Chandamama lo Amrutham to Amrutham Chandamamalo?

So that there would be no confusion. There was a recent film Chandamama Kathalu and also Amrutham is a bigger name given the serial name as it is known.

Is it a sci-fi film?

Sci-fi films are usually about adventures in the future. Amrutham Chandamamalo is about now. It is a whacky comedy. 

Besides the space ride, what does the film show?

 It tracks the journey on earth and the ups and downs.

So it’s an entertaining film?

Yes, it’s a joyride. Kids will love the visual effects.

Does the film have special effects? How did you execute them?

It has 60 minutes of computer graphics. All the work was done in Hyderabad. It took about eight months after the shoot to do the work. Two companies, ECS and Laughing Dots, did the work.

It is more than I expected. The graphics will take you into a different world. There is quality DI too

How were Srinivas Avasarala and Dhanya Balakrishna chosen?

I wanted to change the characters -- make Amrutha Rao and Anjaneyulu much younger. 

I chose Srinivas because he has this comic side that I saw in Ashta Chamma. Dhanya was chosen through auditions.

I had seen Harish’s video long ago. I had even forgotten his name. Later I located that video and contacted him to play the other lead. 

Was production and post-production of this film tough?

Shooting was hell. There were 15-16 tonnes of fly ash which would be flying all over.

We had to get the space suits made partly in Mumbai and in Hyderabad and we had to assemble them here. They were heavy and each helmet had to be fitted with fans.

There were three-four assistants to help the actors put on the suits and take them off. The actor could not sit with the suit and backpack on, so stools were made with a support.

The actors were suspended from ropes; they did not walk like normal. They had to wear special shoes and they had to rehearse in them.

Since there was a lot of computer graphics, two people from ECS were there on the sets.

The lighting by Rasool Ellore was exceptional. It is how light is on the moon.  There was a single, sharp source. Rasool had to ensure that there was no reflection. The shoot was for about 70 days. 

In Annapoorna Studios we had put up a moon set, spacecraft set and lunar module set. I gave the design for the moon and lunar module which was executed by the art director J K Murthy. ECS designed the lunar module set. The helmets of the space suits were designed by us as we needed to have light in them.

There were a number of people on the set in the climax. We had to ensure they did not get in the way of the shoot and we had to use sign language to communicate with the actors!

We shot the climax almost continuously for two days and nights. We had to think imaginatively as it had to work visually also and we had to think of convenience.

Then post-production took another nine months. So, in all, it took about a year and a half to shoot. The whole project took about two years as the script took about another five- six months

This film is a space comedy without the regular comedians.

Yes, there are no big names. The comedy is situational and there is less slapstick.

Why there a delay in release?

We were originally supposed to release on May 9. Since Kochadaiyaan was releasing then, we postponed it to 17 as we did not want to release on the day election results were announced.

Did you devise a game as part of promotional strategy?

Yes, the game is available on Android and Web (Google player and Unity player).

You have these life-size standees with space suits in your office…

They have been sent to 50 theatres in the state. The first episode of Amrutham has been brought out like a comic book for those not familiar with the serial.

Are you conveying a message through this film?

There is no message. Even fun is good. Don’t feel guilty about having fun.

Would you want to remake this film?

I would love to remake it in Hindi if it does well in Telugu.

There has been nothing like this before. Also, it is easier to get an ensemble cast in Hindi.