Haritha Gogineni talks about her directorial debut, Fear

Director Haritha Gogineni is making her debut with the film Fear, a horror thriller starring Vedhika in the lead role. “Actually, Vedhika was not our first choice,” Haritha revealed. “We approached many actresses for the role, but they asked us to wait for a year. Then, we approached Vedhika and she agreed. Once the film was completed, we were satisfied that Vedhika was the perfect choice.”
Haritha added that Vedhika’s experience in horror films like Kanchana and Muni made her an ideal choice for the role. Haritha, who has been interested in films since childhood, also enjoys reading books and writing stories. “I wanted to become a director, and three years ago, the story of Fear came to me,” she said.
Initially, the film was titled Bhayam, but Haritha decided to change it to Fear because it is a more universal and catchy title. The film has screened at several film festivals and won awards, but Haritha believes that the true test of success is the audience’s response. “Even if we won awards at a film festival, if the Telugu audience likes it, that’s equal to an award,” she said.
The film was originally scheduled for release earlier, but Haritha decided to postpone it to December 14 to avoid clashing with other films. “We will release it first in Telugu and later in other languages,” she said.
Haritha praised actor Aravind Krishna, who played a key role in the film. “Although it’s a small role, he accepted it immediately,” she said. She believes that her film offers a unique take on the horror genre. “Generally, family audiences don’t watch horror films, but they can watch my film. Music director Anup Rubens has given his best background music for this film,” she said.
Haritha emphasised the importance of content in small films. “Big films should be made with top stars, but for small films, the content should be good. Many people advised me to add elements for OTT and theatre audiences, but I didn’t follow that advice because I genuinely made this film,” she said.