Under 30, hired off Facebook, no prior experience of filmmaking and from Hyderabad — these are the common binding factors for the cast and the crew of the film Wish You Happy Breakup. The film will be releasing in May in Hindi and Telugu and has been made in one month within a reasonable budget of '30 lakh. This is director, producer and writer Kiran Rao’s debut.
Frustrated with his 9 to 5 job in Britain, Kiran Rao decided to quit, return and pursue his passion for filmmaking. And when one of his close friends committed suicide after a breakup, he decided to make a film on breakups.
About Wish You Happy Breakup Kiran says, “The movie talks about how youngsters should deal with a break up. We teach people not to get disheartened but to celebrate it and move on. Incidentally, after I started shooting, there were 10 breakups among the members of my cast and crew!”
Becoming a filmmaker was a dream come true for Kiran. “I always wanted to write and make movies, but coming from a conservative Telugu family, I was never encouraged to take it up. I became a techie, worked for 7 years and lived my parents’ dream. I now want to live my own dream, so I came back to India and started Fair Shake Films,” he says. “My father still doesn’t know that I am making a movie and I don’t know how he will react to it”, he adds.
Talking about the formation of his company, Kiran says, “Whoever I met wanted me to leave them the script. I was afraid if someone would make the movie and I would not get any credit,” says Kiran who also wrote to Shekhar Kamula, but got no reply. “I finally decided to produce the movie myself under my own banner, Fair Shake Films.”
Being a debutant himself, Kiran wanted to give a chance only to new comers. “I announced auditions through a Facebook page and around 70 people turned up. I handpicked a few of them and that’s how our “family” came together. Everybody in the cast and crew is under 30 years. I am the oldest at 31.”
The movie stars Tejaswi Madivada, Udai Kiran and Shweta Varma in lead roles. While Tejaswi had played supporting roles in the Mahesh Babu starrer Seethamma Vaakitlo Sirimalle Chettu and the recent Puri Jagannadh’s Heart Attack, the rest of the cast were firsttime actors.
When asked whether her experience in acting gave her an edge over the rest of the cast, Tejaswi says, “It was like a college project for me. I was a bit hesitant about taking a chance with this film, but after I heard the script, I changed my mind. Unlike big productions, where you have to keep your opinions to yourself and follow instructions, here I had a chance to express myself. Kiran gives actors the required space.”
After signing up for the movie, most of the cast and crew members quit their jobs to concentrate on the project full time. However, 22-year old Shweta Varma, who works as an investigator at an MNC managed time between work and shoot, without having to quit her job.
But would newcomers help the director grab the eyeballs? A very confident Kiran says, “We might be low on budget but definitely not on talent. Even in the future, I will always keep my doors open for new talent.”
