From a family with almost everyone closely linked to the film industry — her father, mother, brother, husband, nephew, and now her three beautiful daughters, she could easily be called the grand lady of Sandalwood.
Mrs Vijayalakshmi Singh, wife of senior actor Jai Jagadeesh and younger sister to acclaimed film director Rajendra Singh Babu, is back with her fifth venture as a film director launching her three daughters — Vaibhavi, Vainidhi and Vaisiri with their home banner, for its next venture titled Yaanaa or journey.
The actress-turned-director speaks exclusively with Bengaluru Chronicle about her journey so far and the new Yaanaa she has embarked upon, and much more.
“I took a break for over two years after my previous directorial venture Sweety as I felt out of place in terms of the kind of movies releasing. Eventually, the biggest boon was when women and families started coming back to multiplexes. I had to think about the economics, as at present, the first three days after a release are crucial. However, this was not the case in the past. Realising that it is the youth who watch films in the first three days, I started scribbling various ideas revolving around present day youth,” says Mrs Vijayalakshmi Singh.
Despite coming from a well-known family filled with film personalities, as one of the few female directors in the industry, Mrs Vijayalakshmi started from scratch, first working as a costume designer for the film Bharjari Bete which released in 1981 directed by her brother Rajendra Singh Babu, starring Shankarnag, Ambareesh, Jayamala and others.
Later, she even worked as executive producer and turned actress before making her directorial debut in Ee Bandhana which featured Sahasasimha Vishnuvardhan, Jayapradha and others. She recollects that it was Vishnu Sir, her guru, who pushed her to take up direction.
As she makes her directorial comeback, she explains that while she was in the process of her next film, she met Suhas, a youngster during a film festival who was very passionate about films, who inspired her further.
“He had quit engineering and had taken up films. When the process of my film began, it turned into a subject revolving three girls on a journey. I had not thought of my three daughters when I came up with the concept. I had not discussed it with anyone. I knew that my first two daughters would be fine on camera as they had finished their graduation but I was skeptical about the third one as she is still in her final year engineering,” she adds.
As there are no stars in the films, Mrs Vijayalakshmi planned the film with a completely new team of technicians. Presently, 50 per cent of the film has been shot, with the outdoor shoots and locations in Bengaluru yet to be done.
About her three daughters —Vaibhavi, Vainidhi and Vaisiri, the director shares that films were a natural progression for them as they grew up in an entirely film-related atmosphere. All they talked and discussed were films. Mrs Vijayalakshmi also reveals that she was shocked when they conversed in filmi language more often than not, and that was also when she decided to cut-off that connection for a while.
“I was a little worried — as soon as they got into high school, I got them admitted in a residential school in Coorg, for five years. Even the Principal would inform me early on, that the girls aspired to be become actors or film technicians. However, later they realised that there are so many things beyond films,” she recalls, adding that the age difference between the three (eldest Vaibhavi and the two who are twins — Vainidhi and Vaisiri) is just a year and three months. This also helped a great deal in the film, and the characters they play (who are very close to present days youngsters in terms of looks and costumes). This enthused them even more,” she explains.
Insofar as a dearth of female directors is concerned, she says that she had called for several female assistants but factors like timings, safety and etc made them leave their job. The director stresses that the end result of a film and how it is shown matters most to a film maker, the rest is immaterial.
