Dhanush starrer Vaathi/SIR, helmed by Venky Atluri has turned to be a blockbuster. The director, who has managed to cater the audiences in Telugu states, and Tamil Nadu, opens up on how the concept is still relevant to current days, crediting the right people, how he approached Dhanush, and more.
PNS| HYDERABAD
Director Venky Atluri is currently luxuriating in the success of Vaathi/SIR. The Tamil and Telugu versions of the film collectively grossed 51 crores in just three days of its release on February 17. SIR also marks Dhanush’s first straight Telugu film and Venky Atluri certainly didn’t disappoint the audience. While sticking to his sensitive style of filmmaking, Venky managed to cater to Dhanush’s fans both in the Telugu states and Tamil Nadu.
Set in the 90’s, SIR deals with the institutionalisation of the government education sector through privatisation. Leveraging on the ideal dream of middle class parents to see their children do well for themselves, Tripathi(played by Samuthirakani), heads the otherwise corrupt– Tripathi Group of Institution.
As the title suggests, Dhanush plays Balagangadhar, a resilient lecturer, whose only aim is to provide the best education for kids. Unfortunately, he works for the Tripathi Group and his rising popularity in a village called Siripuram comes in the way of Tripathi’s master plan. That’s an interesting story and it shares striking similarities with the present day scenario. And the director of the film feels the crux of the story is still relevant in today’s times.
Venky Atluri is one of the few directors who never fails to give credit to the right people. The craftsman shared, “Working with the likes of Dil Raju garu, Madhura Sreedhar garu, and technicians like PC Sreeram garu and Thaman has been a great learning curve for me. I became a better director after working with PC garu.”
Perhaps, this integrity and passion towards the craft led Venky to jump into uncharted waters and helm SIR. We say uncharted waters, because he tapped into a new genre with SIR.
Anyway! Speaking of the success of the movie and how relevant it’s going to be in the future, Venky Atluri shared, “The success of SIR is definitely a step up for me. Although the story takes place in the 1990s, it is relevant to today’s times and how the education system struggles to achieve equity for lower-middle-class and middle-middle-class people.
Education is a necessity and as long as it remains that way, SIR will be a relevant film.”
Actor Dhanush is a global phenomenon. He keeps reinventing himself with every role he plays. The SIR director first approached Dhanush just when the authorities were going easy on the lockdown restrictions. “I approached Dhanush during the 2020 lockdown at a time when restrictions were being eased.”
“He is a man of few words”, thoughtfully remarked the Rang De director. “As soon as he listened to my narration, he clapped and showed enthusiasm to team up with me. He is a gifted actor who knows how exactly a scene is going to shape up. His level of planning and insights are amazing.”
All of Venky’s previous films(Tholi Prema, Mr. Majnu and Rang De) fall in the rom-com genre. When asked about why he chose to make a swift change, he explained, “Doing a socially-aware film is a shift from the rom-com genre for me. Rang De made me realise that one more rom-com will result in a typecast. That’s why I picked up the issue of education and built a story. I drew from some incidents I know of. I myself was educated mostly in the 1990s.”
The filmmaker takes pride in saying that he too hails from a middle-class background. He stated, “Students who watch SIR will become sensitive about their parents’ struggles. When I was a child, my mother had a struggle trying to educate me. I became a filmmaker when I was in my early 30s. It was too late for a middle-class person!”
Dignity of Labour! A concept that’s a rarity in our country by all means and SIR implicitly touches upon this topic. In our country only certain trades are considered respectable. Arts students often bear the brunt of being ridiculed mindlessly. The misconception here is that people who choose arts related courses just while away time. Cracking an IT job has become a norm. For that matter, we hear a lot of students who move abroad say: “It’s so good here. No one really cares about what I do. It doesn’t matter to them if I’m working as a janitor or an engineer or a waiter!”
Sharing his insights on the topic, the Tholi Prema filmmaker lamented, “Our society is not conscious of the dignity of labour. We look down upon those who do blue-collar jobs as against white-collar jobs. We don’t realize that work is work. A scene in the film also throws light on caste-based discrimination. I am against the caste system and my outlook is reflected by the scene.”
