Indie Cinema Takes Patience

Director Padmavathi Malladi opens up about her National Award-winning children's film Gandhi Tatha Chettu, from crowdfunding struggles to powerful on-screen moments

- Shreya Veronica

The art of storytelling has its own charm and beauty. Every time we watch a film, we marvel at how creatively a director brings each scene to life. Director Padmavathi Malladi, the mind behind Gandhi Tatha Chettu, a film that recently won a National Award for its lead child artiste, Sukriti Veni Bandreddi, has already made a mark with audiences. As the film and its team continue to receive accolades, CE spoke to Padmavathi Malladi about how she came up with the idea for the film and her journey in the industry.

Excerpts

Tell us about the journey of your film Gandhi Tatha Chettu.

The idea came from my friend Venkat Karnati, who is also a filmmaker. He once told me a simple line: a small boy plants a tree, it grows up with it, and one day a boundary wall is built around that tree. I loved the thought and kept encouraging him to develop it into a film, but for a year he didn't write a single word beyond that line. Eventually, I got frustrated and decided to write it myself. As I developed it, I thought, why not make the child a girl instead of a boy? Why not a granddaughter instead of a grandson? That's how Gandhi became a girl, and from there the story blossomed into something beautiful. When I narrated it to Venkat, he said, "This is not my story anymore, it's yours."

I decided to take it up as a film. Of course, the journey wasn't easy, it was rejected by almost 14-15 production houses and OTT platforms. But I was determined to make it at any cost. My best friend Sesha Sindhu Rao supported me, and together we raised the funds.

What challenges did you face while making Gandhi Tatha Chettu?

We managed to raise ₹85 lakhs through crowdfunding, and that gave us the push to begin. Since this was a children's film and an indie project, we weren't aiming for commercial returns, we simply wanted to make it within the resources we had.