In an industry where there are very few woman directors, five-movie-old B. Jaya has left a mark of her own. Making her debut with Chantigadu in 2003, Jaya’s last film was Lovely (2012) starring Aadi and Shanvi which was a hit. Now, the lady director is all set to bring out her new film Vysakham and introduce a new lead pair. “Yes, I always try to introduce new faces in my films. In this film too, I am introducing a Delhi girl,” she says.
However, direction is not a cakewalk these days, she feels. “Everything is commercial and when you go with a good subject, they ask about the combination, which is more important. In earlier days the story was important and now, the film completely relies on commercial values. So it is very difficult to get a producer for a good subject,” she says.
On Vysakham, she says it is about bonding. “Nowadays, there are no joint families and a good relationship between family members. My movie is more about family bonds and relationships. The story revolves around people who live in the same apartment where there are children without parents and parents without children. They share love which make up for what they lost,” she says.
She takes time to complete the script, hence the long gap. ‘I want to tell it in an entertaining manner and at the same time it should be close to the reality,’ says Jaya.
The director always prefers workshops before shooting begins. “I don’t know why our filmmakers are not going for a workshop when top Hindi actors attend it. For all my films, I have done workshops. Now, the lead pair is under training at my workshop for the last one month. It is for all aspects, language, hairstyle, diction and facial expression. I don’t want the actors to speak numbers or something else instead of dialogues,” she says.
She added that these workshops definitely help the actors know more about their roles and then only they can perform well.
She also criticises that present young directors for not coming with proper Telugu literature. “Except a few directors like Krish, most of them are watching English films or some other language. I am surprised that many don’t know Sri Sri, Tilak or Sripada. They are not reading literature or even showing interest, but they want to make Telugu films,” says Jaya. Her inspiration is yesteryear top Telugu women directors Vijayanirmala and Bhanumanthi. “I think women should also show interest in technical side, not just acting says Jaya.
