Gowtam Tinnanuri interview: ‘Kingdom' being compared to ‘Chatrapathi' gives me a high

The Hindu

2 days ago

Gowtam Tinnanuri is a man of few words and rarely courts the spotlight. The Telugu films Malli Raava and Jersey earned him immense admiration for narrating stories that emotionally resonate with the audiences. As his latest film, Kingdom, led by Vijay Deverakonda, opened to a warm reception, the reticent filmmaker looks back at its journey.
Gowtam has been in the thick of media interactions all day, when we meet for this brief interview at Sithara Entertainments' office in Hyderabad. 'The release time is always overwhelming. At the moment, I am relieved that the journey of over two years is complete and the film has reached the audiences. It will take me a few days to judge how happy I am with the film,' he says with a warm smile.
Kingdom was intermittently paused when Vijay Deverakonda worked on Shiva Nirvana's Kushi. The challenge for a writer-director, during such delays, is to remain focused on the story. When asked if he had second thoughts on the relevance of the story as the film faced delays, he avers that the breaks helped better the narrative: 'I was aware that this story would remain relevant. We used the breaks effectively to improvise the scenes that were already written or assess the portions that had been filmed. If we thought an emotion or a plot point was conveyed sufficiently, we re-examined what we were planning to shoot to avoid repetitions.'
Two-part story
Kingdom is the latest in the list of films to opt for a two-part story. Gowtam says this was part of the initial plan, so as to do justice to the multiple characters and subplots. 'The promotional plans were designed to reveal different aspects of the protagonist's character and the subplots. The first poster revealed that he is a cop, the next visual teaser pertained to a subplot, and the next one outlined his bond with his brother. We thought all this would culminate in giving people an idea of the film.'
In an earlier interview with The Hindu, Gowtam had revealed that Jersey went through eight or nine drafts. In the case of Kingdom, he lost count, says the director with a laugh. 'The challenge here was to weave in multiple subplots and characters, so it went through several iterations. If one sub-plot doesn't work, it will affect the story and the core emotion. That was always the concern.'
Batting for originality
There have been comparisons to older films, ranging from SS Rajamouli's Chatrapathi to Karthik Subbaraj's Retro. Both Retro and Kingdom were in production at the same time, and broad similarities would be incidental. Gowtam considers the comparisons to Chatrapathi and says with a smile, 'To be even compared to that film gives me a high. But honestly, both are very different films. I am most sincere in my efforts to write an original story and never seek shortcuts of replicating a scene from any other film. If someone in my team points out any similarities, I rewrite it. My writing will never consciously replicate an existing work.'
He is yet to take a closer look at the feedback on Kingdom and is yet to watch the film in theatres. He admits that he is reluctant, even scared, to watch his films in the theatres. 'I remember watching Malli Raava in a hall. The guy next to me got up and walked away. I cannot take it if someone pulls out a phone, etc. I haven't even watched Jersey completely in a theatre; I watched a few scenes and exited.'
The anticipation for Kingdom stemmed from Gowtam's collaboration with Vijay, and recently, the director revealed that he had first pitched Malli Raava to the actor before Sumanth came on board. Gowtam states that he does not get weighed down by expectations: 'I don't write a script to suit an actor or to cater to a particular market. Once the story is completely done, there may be some enhancements for popular appeal. But the story and its emotional connect are of prime importance to me.'
Adventurous colour palette
The visual palette is one of Kingdom's highlights and Gowtam credits it to production designer Avinash Kolla and cinematographers Girish Gangadharan and Jomon T John. 'When I write, I have a fair idea of the shot divisions, visual texture and music. But a lot depends on the cinematographers and I had great people on board. Girish began working with us and because of a six-month break, he moved on to work in Coolie. Jomon stepped in. We tried to be slightly adventurous with the colour palette. For example we had a greenish tinge in the prison sequence, contrasted by darkness. In one scene, you can see the shadows and highlights of faces but not the expressions; we tried to capture the mood. These creative calls worked.'
Filming in real locations, as opposed to relying on VFX, also helped. Gowtam explains, 'I could see the energy of the actors on locations; a real location helps enhance performances and removes artificiality.'
Next up, 'Magic'
In between Kingdom, Gowtam also quietly completed a film titled Magic, an Anirudh Ravichander musical starring relatively new and young actors. 'This isn't a Hollywood or Broadway sort of musical where dialogues are conveyed through lyrics. This will be a chilled out film about a music band in school; it has 11 songs.' The film is likely to be up for release in a month or two.
Before Kingdom 2, Gowtam hopes to take a break and work on another film. 'Vijay is busy with Rahul Sankrityan's and Ravi Kiran Kola's films, and I have been invested in Kingdom for too long. It will help to take a break and return with a fresh perspective.'