Sekhar Kammula, tall and lanky, irreverent of outward appearances, and inwardly warm and gracious, always with a smile for everyone – has completed 25 years in the film industry. And he hasn’t changed one bit.
“But I have,” he states.
“Maybe outwardly what people see in me — the way I dress or the way I approach people — hasn’t changed. But my basic belief system has been changing. What I think is good and what I consider bad has changed. And this change you will see in my films,” he says.
And this seems true when he shares the most profound of his thoughts in the usual unassuming manner while talking on stage during *Kuberaa* promotions:
“In my films, whatever I did — even if at times it was a mistake — I had done truthfully.
“For a mother, there is no difference if her son is a beggar or a millionaire. For *Kuberaa*, we, like a mother, have showered pure and equal love for each and every character in the film. And I feel for God or country too, there must be no difference in how we see a beggar and a rich guy.
“However, in our country and across the world where class differences exist, Kuberaa makes a lot of sense.
Sekhar Kammula comes across very confident about how the film looks, and he says that it isn’t misplaced pride but humble truthfulness with which he promises that the film is a true pan-India film — set in Mumbai, made in Telugu and Tamil — and comes across as a fresh and novel experience.
“Audience can be from anywhere — they will feel the film is theirs,” he adds.
In today’s day and age, when there is a constant debate on which kind of content works in theatres, he says that even today a film will work if it shows responsibility towards society and if it is good. He believes in storytelling with social responsibility and emotional depth, done with honesty and a sense of purpose. “The day the audience says they don’t want to see emotion and want only bloodbath, then humans will cease to be human,” he shares.
Shekar Kammula shows women as independent and opinionated but admits he earlier avoided portraying deeper gender rights issues.
Have the women characters in his films changed too?
“They do. But I must say I have always shown them as characters with opinion, a life, and independence. They would want the same things as men. This comes from my understanding of women that I have seen. I have shown the women in my films as rebellious but have always conformed them. I now realise I didn’t take a 100 percent feministic side. Now I understand there are serious rights issues that women are dealing with. I never showed that part. I stayed on the safe side. I never went into questioning mode or even tried.”
Any regrets about not doing enough films?
“I do sometimes feel there should be more of me — two to three Sekhar Kammulas perhaps. I do get a lot of ideas, and then we freeze on one and work towards making it real. Filmmaking is not easy. It is a lot of work — developing the characters, travelling with them, travelling with the film… making a film takes time. And after all that, I become exhausted.
“However, I am not apologetic about making fewer films. I better make a few good films rather than not. I am proud of being around even after 25 years. I am proud that I am still relevant, which is a rarity for a director who also writes. I am proud I have a good team of writers who work with me still.”
“Whatever I did so far, I did with honesty, and that is the reason I am not out of fashion even after all these years,” says the maverick director who hasn’t changed his way for anyone — whether he worked with first-time actors or existing superstars.
Kuberaa is Sekhar Kammula’s upcoming pan-India film starring Dhanush, Nagarjuna, and Rashmika Mandanna. It is a coup of sorts, as he brings together two South stars, Dhanush and Nagarjuna, and the reigning female lead Rashmika Mandanna on one screen. The film is going to feel totally new and fresh, he states.
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