From Nannaku Prematho to Mrithyunjay: Kiran Talks About His Journey

Director Hussain Sha Kiran spoke to Ram Venkat Srikar for Gulte Pro and shared interesting details about his creative journey, storytelling philosophy, and his upcoming film Mrithyunjay which is releasing on 27th Feb.

Hussain Sha Kiran is known for providing the basic story of the blockbuster Nannaku Prematho. During the interaction, he spoke about how he looks at stories and writing.

He made an interesting statement about storytelling. According to him, every story may not be a lie, but every lie has a story behind it. He explained that stories are everywhere in human life. Sometimes they come as exaggeration, sometimes as imagination, and sometimes even as hype. For him, storytelling often begins from such small thoughts.

Talking about his childhood, Kiran recalled how he wrote his first story in school. His teacher asked the class to imagine what would be on the other side of moss covered steps. While many students wrote simple answers, Kiran tried to write it in a creative way from a first person point of view. That was his first step into storytelling.

When asked why he prefers thrillers, Kiran said it is mainly because of what he watched and read while growing up. He believes that a filmmaker’s work is largely influenced by the content he consumes over the years.

His upcoming film Mrithyunjay is his second directorial project after Meeku Meere Maaku Meme which was released in 2016. He revealed that the film runs for about 1 Hr 53 Mins minutes from the first scene to the last. With rolling titles included, the total duration may touch 2 hours.

He also mentioned that he took enough time for post production to ensure the final output comes out well. According to him, a two hour runtime is ideal to keep audiences engaged in theatres.

The interview ended on a lighter note with a discussion about theatre culture and how some viewers leave before the rolling titles are completed. Overall, Hussain Sha Kiran appeared confident and clear about his approach towards storytelling and filmmaking.