Ramgopalvarma starting a Telugu film called “Dongala Muta” (A Gang of Thieves) with stars like Ravi Teja, Charmi, Brahmanandam, Laxmi Manchu, Prakash Raj etc, from February 9th.It is going to be a high entertainment Thriller.Everyone knows that normally a film takes between 60 to 120 days to shoot and more than 150 to 200 crew members will be working on it.The unique thing about this film of mine is that this 2 hour long feature film will be completed in just 5 days start to finish, with a crew of just 5 people including me.No one in this film is going to be paid.
It is being made only with those actors and technicians who are excited to be a part of this project.All the people who are working for this project will only be paid after the release of the film that is, if and only if the film makes profits and those payments will be in accordance with their individual value additions.My primary intention of doing this film is to establish a fact of how it is possible to use present day Digital Technology to make a Theatrical film in just 5 days and with just a 5 member crew and that too at zero cost.
The technology I am adapting for this film is going to once for all prove that it’s not Crores of rupees that one needs to make a film but it’s just a story which excites all concerned and a passionate desire in all concerned to see that the film gets made and gets released.The film will be released on March 4th that is exactly in 23 days from the start date of the shooting which is February 9th.The five member unit breakup is as follows:
1. Director 2. Associate Director 3. Three Canon 5 D camera operators
There will be no generator, no lights, no equipments of any sort including Jibs, trolleys etc.
As the entire film will be shot hand held and in natural light. The pilot track for the sound will be recorded by the cameras themselves. From my study in testing these cameras and its associated technologies I am convinced that it’s going to revolutionize the entire costing process of a film. The creative content of the film is a separate issue which could be bad even in a 30 Crore film shot for a 100 days with a 200 crew unit.The primary aim of this exercise of mine is to stretch to the upper limit of what is achievable in film making with today’s digital technologies in terms of saving time and costs in film production.
If it’s done with new unknown actors it would be still an obscure experiment. But the fact that I am doing this with stars like Ravi Teja who has a market recovery of more than 20 Crore per film is going to garner complete focus on to this film from everybody concerned in terms of what has been achieved.In one word what this film will achieve for sure is that it will show ways to cut the costs of film production by 80% atleast for genre films, if not so much for the so called production value oriented films. Also it will make all the producers and directors sit up and question where all their money is actually going and why?
And most importantly it will give all the aspiring directors an opportunity to make their films freely without having to worry a wee bit at all so as to how and where they can get money to make their films because they will realize that they don’t need any money at all to make a film any more.The cost of film is a sum total of what one pays to artists, technicians, crew members’ equipment suppliers etc. but if the director with the sheer power of his idea and if he has the ability to convince all concerned and if he is also able to instill the same excitement into others as what he himself feels for the film then they all will agree to work at no cost and thus directly contribute to the project in their various individual capacities.
Once the film releases and if it makes profits then they will all be given their dues as per their individual pre agreed valuations. Here it has to be understood that the payments are coming from the profits rather than them adding to the cost.So in this film “Dongala Muta” I have set out.
(1) to push the digital technology to its peak limits.
(2) to make a film in a record time.
(3) to have a least number of crew.
(4) to make it at zero cost.
After my long absence from this blog which was partly due to my busy schedule and also because I was generally bored of the repetitive questions and observations. I came back now to share my excitement on this brand new idea of mine. As soon as the film is out I will give the details of how I achieved this as only when you actually see the film you will understand what I am talking about. All in all, I can say now itself that the process I am employing in “Dongala Muta” will be and can be the only way which will bring in a true democratization to the process of film making and free aspiring Producers and Directors from the tyranny of lack of money.For people who want to closely follow the work flow of “Dongala Muta” it is as follows: Shoot starts Feb 9th Shoot ends Feb 13th Final Edit done Feb 20th Background Score, Sound EFX and Dubbing Feb 25th Final Mix and Censor Print done March 1st Theatrical release
Article Involves:: Ram Gopal Varma, Ravi Teja, Charmi, Brahmanandam , Manchu Lakshmi Prasanna, Prakash Raj
