Female directors take centre stage

It seems to be the season of woman directors in T-town. With new-age stars and filmmakers willing to work with female directors, the gates are opening for talented girls.

"I think more woman directors should take charge in the days to come," says national award winning producer Raj Kandukuri, who introduced Sindhu Rao with his last release 'Choosi Choodangane'.

"It's all about skill set and nothing to do with gender. Sindhu Rao directed our film, while another girl Padmavathi penned the script," he informs.

Actually, talented director Nandini Reddy carved a niche for herself in male-centric domain with hits like 'Ala Modalaiyindi' and 'OH Baby! "Nandini Reddy is one of the talented directors in T-town.

Her success has inspired many girls to try their luck in tinsel town," says Kandukuri, who wants girls to work in all 24 crafts in the industry. "Ajab Ali and Shanti Rao handled costume and art departments.

In my earlier movie 'Mental Madhilo,' we had Manisha Satyavolu in art department and Mona as camera assistant. Till then, these departments were meant for guys, but I wanted to break the glass ceiling," he informs.

Among stars, hotshot Naga Shaurya is joining hands with debutante Lakshmi Sowjanya for his upcoming movie with Sithara Entertainments, who always believe in promoting 'new' talent.

Another female director Sanjana Reddy, who couldn't make her mark with 'Rajugadu' has now embarked on the biopic of Karanam Malleswari to prove her mettle. Sanjana Reddy has been in touch with Malleswari for more than a year.

Interestingly, both Malleswari and Sanjana are from Srikakulam district while Kona Venkat with M V V Satyanarayana are producing this Rs 50 crore multilingual movie.

Of course, Telugu cinema had its share of eminent woman directors like Bhanumathi and Vijaya Nirmala.

"Though there were directors like B Jaya, Jeevitha Rajasekhar and Suchitra Chandrabose and others, but none could match the stature of Vijaya Nirmala, who was prolific in dishing out blockbusters with good content," says veteran director B Gopal.

With few lady directors directly stepping into direction, Kandukuri wants them to gain some work experience before wielding the megaphones.

"I wish these girls work with directors for a few films to understand that visualization is important.

Penning ideas on paper is easy, but transferring them on to screen demands a bit of experience," he concludes.