Exclusive | Nag Ashwin on Producing Singeetam Srinivasa Rao's Musical: 'Nobody Better For Me To Back'

When makers of Sing Geetham, legendary filmmaker Singeetam Srinivasa Rao's comeback to the director's chair at 94, call the film a "never-seen-before" musical, they aren't embellishing.

"We genuinely don't have a reference idea for this film because there is nothing like this that's been done before," says Nag Ashwin who has produced the film, in an exclusive interview with The Hollywood Reporter India. In the film, which co-stars Ahilya Bamroo, Ayaan, and Shalini Kondepudi, every line is sung.

The film marks the 61st title for the nonagenarian Rao, who has been behind some of Tamil and Telugu cinema's greatest hits and change-makers, including Kamal Haasan's Pushpak, Nandamuri Balakrishna's Aditya 369, and Haasan's Apoorva Sagodharargal.

Excerpts from an interview, where the director-producer speaks about backing the delightfully risky project, Rao's transformative impact on Indian cinema, his love for Aditya 369 (1991), and the example he wants to set as a filmmaker with his vision for films like Kalki 2898AD.

Can you start by talking about the film itself, because the teaser mentions that it's a 40-year-old story that's been waiting to be told.

Sir [Singeetam Srinivasa Rao] has been trying to make this film for a long time. I guess, in a way, it's his dream project. He told me that he tried to pitch it to Kamal sir even before Pushpak. When I first met sir during Mahanati, he told us this story. Even music directors in the industry know of this project because he has been trying to make it happen for so long. We were wondering how he was going to make it because it is such an ambitious project; it's not like it's happening in one house or hotel or something very contained. It’s a mining village, it's fantasy and all those things.

Somewhere around the end of Kalki, I just decided that, you know, we have to do this. This man has given many generations of people so much through his imagination and wit. This is the least we could do for him.

What it was like for you to see him at work on the sets at the age of 94?

His passion is fully active. When we started writing the film, he was probably 92 or 93. He would never be satisfied with anything simple, or get bored and question his own ideas. It was a privilege for all of us because he has never settled on his laurels. He always wants to do something new.

As a filmmaker yourself, what was the one thing about the script that excited you?

To be honest, I started because I saw his passion for it. As we built the story and started shooting it, I understood it. He saw it before any of us and saw what it would be like for a full-fledged musical to come to life. In India, we have musicals in the sense that we break into song and dance for a montage song and do lip-sync. In world cinema too, we've seen scenes suddenly go into the song space.

This film is about a curse in a village that forces everyone to sing; it is not a creative choice to have them sing, but a choice due to the story. Once we started shooting, that's when we knew how new and unique it actually was.

What was it like for you to back a movie like this? In so many ways, it is a gamble because it is a pure musical.

I wanted to make sure that we did justice to whatever sir wanted. If he wanted the mining village to be massive, we gave it to him. Of course, it is risky, but I'm not a regular producer. I prefer writing and making movies once in a while. But if I have to produce a film, it has to be probably because nobody else will produce it. 

It's not something that anyone would want to get into because it has so many variables; the cost, the ambition, the scale and so on. It takes a lot to produce it, but there's nobody better I can do this for.

Can you talk to us about your connection with Singeetam's inventive brand of films?

Aditya 369 is an all-time favourite because, as a child, it blew open my imagination of what was possible. I was probably 10 when I watched it. You can't really quantify how magical the film, song and the VFX were.  All of his movies have this child-like quality and innocence... even Pushpak and Michael Madana Kama Rajan. None of his films really repeat themselves, which is the real mark of a master; you can't say that about almost any other director in the country. 

Was there a lot of interaction between the two of you on set? Can you also tell us your relationship with him, because he mentored you on 'Kalki 2898 AD'..

He did help us during the scripting stage of Kalki; he read the script and gave us some feedback. We enjoyed jamming on a few ideas, and he gave us suggestions on some things that felt too obvious and places where we needed to try something else.

For Sing Geetham, we did a lot of rehearsals. We used to rehearse and block out every scene before the shoot. Sir had a specific way of how he wanted to do things, and I would also contribute a bit creatively. He is fully gracious and has zero ego. He'd be like, 'I was wrong.' And sometimes he'd go, 'I'm the director, this is what I'll do.' (laughs)

We are not saying it's one-of-a-kind or never-been-done-before as just a marketing strategy; we genuinely don't have a reference and there is nothing like this that's been done before. We had to write a scene, and Devi [Sri Prasad] had to compose it, get people to sing it, time it, rehearse it, and then only we'd go into shoot. It was an entirely new process for Devi and us. 

How did Devi Sri Prasad come on board and why was he the perfect fit?

We were looking at a few people, and as soon as he heard Devi's name, he was sure about it. We weren't sure about his timelines and whether he'd be busy, but sir wanted him.

Is Singeetam sir going to mentor you for Kalki's sequel too?

Not as of now. But he's available to do it.

As a filmmaker, do you also feel drawn to the kind of films that Singeetam sir has done? We see glimpses of that in Kalki 2898 AD. Is reinventing the wheel also something that you associate yourself with?

The only thing I'd like to compare myself with sir on is how to inspire kids and the younger generation.. just like he inspired us. That's a tall dream, but if a bunch of kids watched Kalki and they think, 'Wow, this is possible... this is what cinema or storytelling can do,' and if that affects them the same way a film like Aditya 369 impacted me, that's more than enough.