MR. productions which goes by the tag “a production with values and creative ideas” has created almost 113 short-films. Established in 2008December by Subash Chandra and Dheeraj Raju, the production group has given the film industry actors, musicians and technicians. In conversation with Telugu360, Subash Chandra talks about their journey, challenges and way ahead…
In a year it will be a decade since your debut into the short film industry. What has changed?
Yes, it will soon be 10years. This journey has introduced us to many people especially industry folks, technicians, musicians. To make short films was a random thought. We learnt a lot about film making. We came from none to better and now we are aiming for the best.
What keeps you busy these days?
We are doing a feature film with Manchu Entertainment and Lakshmi Manchu as producer. Pre-production is completed. Shooting will start in February and it is expected to release during monsoon, Dusshera to be precise. We have couple of films in pipeline.
Tell us more about your first feature film
It’s a new age story in western style. A one of its kind movie in Telugu like Cheeni kum. The film is with fresh faces and short film actors. First time in Tollywood, I guess the movie will have two directors.
You adhere to your tagline, avoiding vulgarity and are against skin showing. How will you manage it in a western style movie?
At the end of the day we are what we are, even though it is a feature film. Our style to keep it clean remains a very critical task for us. Generally, people say “scene demands it”, we tend to avoid such scenes. Moreover, actresses are vulnerable to nasty comments and we don’t want to put them in such difficult situations. Furthermore, we don’t want to influence audience in wrong way. We are taking some creative liberties in our feature film but we will try to avoid it in short films.
Bollywood started Jio short film awards, likewise, what is your take on Tollywood for short films?
The movie industry is undergoing change. Short films were part of Academy awards, Jio filmfare awards for short films came recently. I am confident Tollywood will follow the footsteps of Bollywood and Hollywood. The making or reach is not yet going to next level in Tollywood. There might be a small line once we cross it, we will be like them.
Do you conduct auditions for actors now?
We generally don’t audition but go by word of mouth from peers. We mould the actors as per our needs. We never wrote a story imagining a particular actor.
How do you pay for your technicians?
Our source of revenue is youtube only. We pay only to our musicians. Most of the people who worked for us did out of passion and not for money. It’s like a win-win situation for all. Now since we are doing feature film we are getting paid. We are actually lucky, not all get paid for their debut film.
How much time do you allocate for shooting short films now?
For Naya Love Story we took 2 days for shooting. We haven’t changed in the way we do our making. It has been same for 9 years now. That’s one asset for us as there are times when we shot movies within 1hour and at times in 30days. Everything depends on story and location.
You use only one editor to maintain consistency. Isn’t it monotonous and aren’t limiting yourself?
We find mistakes in our movies 15-20days after release. At times we dislike the way we shot the movie. This gives me motivation, I am the editor, to make it better every time and not repeat same mistakes. We keep updating ourselves. We watch movies and try to replicate the cuts. If we are successful it is good, if not we will reinforce on why we are unable to do. That’s why it was never monotonous.
So is there any chance for new editors?
After doing 100 films we are giving chance to others to become editor. Short films offer you to try your luck in different crafts, but for feature we can’t. We are now hiring technicians. Dheeraj believes that each craft is an ocean and one person should focus on only one thing.
Short films are still on the plate?
If I really like the script, I will do it. Of the new 13films after Prayanam, I did around 6films. My team is now given the opportunity to make short film and we will present it. That’s where we came from and will never stop doing shorts.
Do you have office space?
We actually had our production house from 2013 to 2015 but gave it up after we signed our feature film. Now our office is Manchu entertainment.
Whom do you consider your competitors in short films
We never considered anyone as competitors. When we started off we had only 4-5 peers. We had Run Raja Run fame Sujith, Pellichoopulu fame Tharun Bashkar, Meeku mere maaku meme fame Hussain Sha Kiran and Prema Ishq Kadhal fame Pavan Sadineni Prema. Everyone is unique in their own concepts and we share feedback and tricks. We are cordial to each other, and even change schedules of short films if there is a conflict.
Can you tell us about any specific issue you faced in initial days?
We liked a particular title design and asked the person who created it, how they did it. They denied telling us because it is professional secret. We were very disappointed. But then we started discussing with our peers (above mentioned 4). We don’t want anyone to face such issues that’s why our credits have the technical details.
What has surprised you in this industry?
Okay is not a yes. Even if they say okay, it cannot be taken for granted. We weren’t aware of it. Ok is not a done deal but there will be a lot of after math. For everything else we were prepared.
Where do you see yourself in next 10years?
We started with zero and now we are making our own feature film. We just want to keep doing movies forever and will remain in movies. Our goal is to take standards to next level. We want to create uniqueness.
Anything else you want to convey through us.
We always thank our well-wishers and fans, but this time we want to thank our team. Music has been our biggest asset. Only because we have such a dedicated team, we are now face of Mr.Productions and popular as Dheeraj and Subash. We are thankful to our seniors, peers and everyone who supported us. Our team makes us what we are today.
