Young director Venky Kudumula is a soft-spoken person and doesn’t like much attention. Chalo, his debut film as a director, was a success and the release of his second, Bheeshma, is eagerly awaited. He had worked with top director Trivikram Srinivas earlier, so the dialogues in Venky’s film sound similar to those in Trivikram’s movies. “He is one of the best writers in Telugu cinema and I am one of his biggest fans. Also, since I worked with him, his influence will be seen in my dialogues,” says Venky.
Chalo was inspired by the bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh into Telangana and Andhra. Food is the inspiration for his second film — specifically, food adulteration. He says he had seen videos of adulterants being injected into watermelons, and other similar issues. “I wanted to convey the message that organic cultivation is good. I don’t preach though, I tell it in an entertaining way”, says Venky.
Interestingly, Venky is a graduate in Agricultural Sciences. “I have been interested in films from my childhood, but my parents wanted me to complete my graduation”, he said, and added that his father is doing organic farming in his native village. Referring to a recent incident when Naga Shaurya, who was the lead actor in Chalo, had said in a television interview that he had gifted a car to Venky, who had subsequently sold it, he said the car was still with him, but declined to elaborate, saying he did not wish to talk about personal issues. Talking about his private life, Venky said his parents were pressing him to get married, and added that he would do so once his sister got married.
