A civil engineer’s passion for writing earned him the dream every filmmaker carves for. “I have always loved writing, since I was a kid and my passion for writing drove me into writing screenplay for films,” says producer Bhargava. Having been associated with Telugu movies since 2001, Bhargava has produced a few Telugu feature films and short films. He then started an animation studio, after which his award winning film Kittu was made. “Kittu was released in 2006, for which we received both the National Award and the AP Government Award,” he recalls.
His love for animation prompted him to pen Maharaja, his latest book which was released in the city last weekend. “I began in 2008. My initial writing was in the form of screenplays. But, since animation feature films need a budget of over `150-`200 crore, we decided to release the story as a book first, and then adapt it into a movie,” he explains.
A 175-page cinema novel as Bhargava calls it, Maharaja, aims at taking the reader into a whole new visual setting. “When one completes reading the book, it’s like they have just finished watching a 90-minute feature film. The book has over 30 pages of illustrations and this way of writing is quite different from writing a novel, as it needs to grab the attention and the focus of the reader,” he explains.
Co-written by Bharavi, a friend of Bhargava’s, published by B-Tales and distributed by Amar Chitra Katha, the book is slated for release as an animated feature film in August next year. The book is also available on Flipkart and other online websites. In a week or so, the book will be available across the country.
In style of Aesop’s Fables, Maharaja tells the tale of a monkey Nandu who raises above his status as a four-legged tree-swinging primate to become the King of the jungle. Ask him why he chose such a context, he replies, “Kids these days have no role models they can relate to when it comes to leadership qualities. There is also no new Children’s Literature being written at the moment, which is why I chose to write something like this. My book talks about being socially responsible and taking an initiative as a leader, which children these days should learn in their formative years.”
He further points out, “We have a skewed social make-up that doesn’t equate power with responsibility, but instead shows how to misuse and enjoy. We have tried to embed all these things into the protagonist of the book, to influence young ones into growing up as responsible adults.”
He emphasised on the need for creating new Indian content which is more native and authentic than borrowed from our western counterparts. “Books need to be current and relevant, not ancient, so that it makes the content more relatable to its audience. For feedback, we distributed books in over 25-30 schools and have had a great response,” he says.
So how easy was it morphing a `150 crore budget film into a graphic cinema novel? Explaining that in 2009 the team had written to various corporate houses all across the country for sponsorship, he says, “Most of the corporate houses we approached, got back to us with a positive response. But till 2011, due to recession, things did not materialise. Many critics appreciated the script and called it on a par with Hollywood feature films like the Lion King and Jungle Book. Now that everything is falling in place, we will be releasing the movie soon.”
Maharaja is the first book of a trilogy. “The second book will be released in the next six months and the third after that. We are also looking for distributing it internationally and the Hindi and Telugu versions are almost ready and will come up in the next four months or so,” he reveals. While writing is his passion, Bhargava has already moved onto his next project, directing a Telugu comedy feature film. “The movie was actually delayed because of the book launch. It has debut actors and is a low budget movie. After this gets done, I am directing another Hindi movie for kids, which will be released by next Diwali,” he says.
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