Origin of Telugu Web Series VrindaDirected by Trisha Krishnan, the serial will stream on SonyLIV on August 2. The story of the serial revolves around the time when its writer-director Surya Manoj Vangala came across incidents related to ritualistic, superstitious practices like human sacrifice. “In 2015-16, I read about an incident in Uttar Pradesh. Then I came across some practices in other regions as well. The highly polarised debate on these issues got me thinking,” recalls the debut director, when we met for an interview at a cafe in Hyderabad.
Set in a fictional city, Vrinda The film follows the lead character Trisha as a police officer investigating a series of such incidents. Surya explains that the more she investigates, the more questions she faces, with no easy answers.
Vrinda For Surya, it is the result of years of nurturing the dream of writing and directing. Coming from Visakhapatnam, Surya’s family was far from the film industry. His father worked in an insurance company while his mother was a homemaker. Surya and his two elder brothers were interested in studies. “One of my brothers got admission in IIT, the other in BITS Pilani and I did the same. I was also interested in classical music and trained in Carnatic music. My interest in music made me curious to know about the stories behind the songs.”
From education to cinema
Suriya Manoj Vangala (centre) on the sets of ‘Brinda’ | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
While studying information systems at BITS Pilani, Surya found his attraction to cinema stronger than ever. “Attending classes wasn’t compulsory, so I would often watch world cinema with friends.” As his interest in cinema grew, he looked for work opportunities in the industry. “I emailed directors Sekhar Kammula, Deva Katta, Ajay Bhuyan and others, introducing myself as a student of BITS Pilani, hoping I would be able to get their attention since they too were from an academic background.”
Surya was working in an automobile company in Chennai when he received a call from Aneesh Kuruvilla. He quit his job, moved to Hyderabad and joined Aneesh’s directorial team. Ko ante koti. Later he worked with Sekhar Kammula Ring finger And for Hanu Raghavapudi krishna gadi veera love gaddha And Padi Padi Leche Mansuand with Ramesh Verma Rakshasudu,
Learning from Sekhar Kammula, Hanu Raghavapudi
Surya observed the filmmakers and learnt as much as he could. “In terms of ideas and ideology, I tried to imitate Shekhar sir. In terms of technique, I applied what I learnt from Hanu sir. For instance, I learnt how to conduct myself on the set by watching Shekhar sir. His approach to life and work is holistic. If Hanu sir wanted 24 moves in a scene, each move was choreographed and the camera and lights were placed accordingly; shots were cut specifically for those moves.”
Surya Manoj Vangala | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
When Surya decided to go ahead on his own, it took him a long time to write. “Normally a feature film script is 120 pages long, which means about one page for one minute of footage. I wrote over 400 pages, getting deep into the story.”
Soon, screenwriter Padmavathi Malladi (who was part of the film’s writing team) greatness) joined in to help improve the script. Shashank Vennelaganti was the script consultant. “Apart from that, some of my crew and friends like producer Ashish Kolla, dialogue writer Jai Krishna, music composer Shakthi Kanth Karthik and lyricist Rakendu Mouli gave me objective feedback.”
through the story VrindaSurya tried to address the debates on what defines ritualistic practices and a rational approach. “The writing went through several drafts and over time, I expressed some ideas concisely. For instance, the lines in the teaser – which means that our fight is not just against our anger, hatred and betrayal, but also to not let the goodness within us die – was initially a page long text; it was condensed in later drafts.”
Surya had initially planned Vrinda The film was initially conceived as a feature film, but as he fleshed out the characters and story, it evolved into a web series. With the help of his friend and producer Ashish Kola, he pitched it to Sony Liv in mid-2021. “The writing structure for a web series demands a prologue, a beginning, middle and an end with a hook point before the title credits in each episode. It was a good exercise in writing.”
instant execution
Trisha in ‘Brinda’ | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
He narrated the story to Trisha with a detailed script. Though she was initially hesitant to do a web series, he says she connected with the story and gave her nod. Soon, actors Ravindra Vijay, Indrajith Sukumaran, Anandsami and others also joined in. Surya recalls script-reading sessions in which each lead actor would read out their Telugu lines and give suggestions to each other. “As a debutant, it was a dream to see all these actors reading and discussing my script.”
This kind of preparation ensured that no time was wasted on the set. Vrinda It was scheduled to go on floors in October 2021. The cast and crew worked quickly; at times, footage equivalent to five to six minutes of screen time was shot in a day. “For a feature film, typically two minutes of footage is shot in a day,” he explains.Vrinda Surya credited his production and direction team and cinematographer Dinesh Babu, saying, “It involved 330 minutes of footage and we filmed it in 76 days. Since it’s an investigative drama, we changed locations frequently and still maintained the pace.” Vrinda It was filmed in Hyderabad, Pochampalli, Kerala and Madhya Pradesh.
The web series has garnered attention ever since Trisha entered the digital space, and Surya says her presence is an asset. “Trisha is a thorough professional; she brings out the finer details and makes it look effortless.”
Surya is now working on the script for a feature film and is awaiting response. Vrinda“There were times when I felt I was getting busy with my writing process. Meanwhile, some of my contemporaries (Vivek Athreya, Sankalp, Ravi Kiran Kola and Hasith Goli among others) moved on to directing feature films. But it has been an interesting journey.”
