Minugurulu: Fireflies in the dark

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Even before the release of his film 'Minugurulu', which deals with visually impaired students, debutant director Ayodhya Kumar Krishnamsetty is being hailed by industry bigwigs.

Ayodhya says, “'Minugurulu' means fire flies. The movie's aim is to light up the society amid darkness.

“It was not an easy task", he adds, “It was a long project that started in July 2010. I did a lot of research because I was not aware of the subject. I travelled to all the schools for the visually impaired in the state and got to know their lifestyles in-depth. It took me 15 months during which I simultaneously did my research as well as wrote 12 drafts for the screenplay."

Most of the movie's cast members are new comers, “The USP of our film is that we have 40 visually impaired students acting in the movie. We could have hired people who could act blind, but to give authenticity to the film, we used blind students. We visited many blind schools to audition students and zeroed in on 40. They were very enthusiastic and had lots of energy. Apart from these students we hired three other students and Bollywood actor Raghuveer Yadav who plays a visually impaired person as well."

“I worked with consultants at L.V. Prasad Eye Institute and got trained there. I hired the same consultants for my pre-production and production. There was some extensive research that went into the planning of the movie," he adds.

About how the idea for the movie came about, Ayodhya says, “A friend of mine told me a plot about a blind orphanage. I was impressed by the whole idea and felt I could incorporate different elements into the plot. That is how the whole project started. It revolves around visually impaired students in a hostel who expose the villain - played by Ashish Vidyarthi, to the district collector, played by Suhasini Maniratnam."

“This movie is also for the visually impaired. What I have seen through my research is that these students watch movies through their ears. They listen and enjoy movies. For 'Minugurulu', we have hired Oscar winner Resul Pookutty for sound design. Vivek Philip, who has already worked in movies like 'Bas Ek Pal', 'My Brother Nikhil' etc., has given the background score," says Ayodhya.

He is also excited about the good feedback the movie received from the industry. “Shekar Kamula praised my work after watching the movie and even Chiranjeevi took time out from his busy schedule to watch the movie and he too praised it."

“Surprisingly, it was easier to direct the visually impaired students than the others. The whole script was written in Braille for them so that they were well-versed with the scenes. They grasped everything very quickly," he adds.

With no producers coming forward, Ayodhya had to produce the film as well. “The biggest problem I faced was being the producer. I had to concentrate on directing and at the same time had to give equal time to production. Putting on both hats was a tough job. But I am happy with the output."

“Tentatively we have planned to release the movie on September 27," he concludes.

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