Mumbai: In an Exclusive IANS conversation with R.S. Prasanna, Director of movie ‘Sitaare Zameen Par’, where he shared his insights on filmmaking and culture, discussing the visual texture of his film and the potential of technological advancements in the industry. He also spoke about the rise of Indian culture, suggesting it may become a global force similar to Korean culture. In the last, Prasanna highlighted the importance of stories in preserving Indian civilization through folk tales, music, and epics.
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#R.S.Prasanna #SitaareZameenPar #Director #AamirKhan #GeneliaDeshmukh #ExclusiveInterview #Trending #BollywoodNews #BollywoodGossips #BollywoodUpdates #BollywoodNews #Bollywood #Bollywoodcelebrity #BollywoodHindiNews #IANS
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00:00And with regards to the look and feel of the film, the visual texture, it's very vibrant, even the jerseys and everything.
00:06They come off really well, you know, very eye pleasing.
00:09If you could walk me through the process of, you know, if you could break down the process of, you know, putting together the visual texture of the film, the lensing, the DI color palette and everything.
00:18Thank you. I mean, you're asking great questions.
00:20So again, credit to my team.
00:22So we do a large part of the pre-production process where we sit and envision the color palette and how does the film look.
00:31And so my team, DOP, Srinivas Reddy, again, a wonderful guy to work with.
00:37My production designers, Nikhil and Apoorva and my costume designer, Sachin.
00:41So primarily, these are the three people who are your kind of like your visual partners, you know, your DOP, your production designer and your costume designer primarily.
00:51Right.
00:52So, and then you have a great AD team who comes up with references and stuff like that.
00:57So one thing was very clear to me that this film is a very, for me, it was a very sunny film.
01:05It was a very, very warm, very happy kind of a film.
01:08Right.
01:09Very soft texture.
01:10Yes.
01:11And for me, it was like, in a way, like I remember when I was growing up, Maniratnam sir used to have a certain joy in his visuals.
01:20I don't know how to express it.
01:22Like even if you see all his movies, there is a certain visual quality to his.
01:25Yes, absolutely.
01:26A beautiful, soft texture.
01:28So that is something that I've always been a fan of.
01:30And I was…
01:31Santor Sivan being his head.
01:32Exactly.
01:33Santor sir is a big, he's my guru.
01:34I've actually worked with him.
01:35Oh.
01:36So he's got that ability to capture the air of the place, not just the face.
01:39Yeah.
01:40So, so yeah, we keep talking about all of this and then I felt that there is a certain joy that a visual can give.
01:49At the same time, we wanted to strike a balance between realism and just that little bit of 10% of the joy.
01:55Yeah.
01:56So my team are my partners in evolving that.
01:59Yeah.
02:00And yeah, the colours are chosen for a reason.
02:03But all of them come from this feeling of, of, so sometimes I will tell my DOP that,
02:09man, this is a good lighting, but I'm feeling sad looking at it.
02:13So he'll be like, sad looking at me, what?
02:16So then we have to break it down.
02:18But I feel, I don't know why I'm feeling sad little bit.
02:21I'm feeling 5% sad.
02:22Okay.
02:23So I hope there is a happiness meter, you know, that you can put up.
02:28So, I mean, it's a feeling, it's a gut feeling I feel that the director has.
02:31Yeah.
02:32But it is these HODs who actually do the job.
02:34Yeah, absolutely.
02:35Absolutely.
02:36We don't know anything.
02:37And talking about Aamir sir, now my next question is that, you know, since 2001 to 2025,
02:4324, 25 years of Hindi or Indian filmmaking, the tech has largely changed.
02:48I remember Lagan was one of the first films to have a sing sound on a set.
02:51Correct.
02:52From there to now social media coming into picture in promotion and everything.
02:57And now AI, as a filmmaker, everyone thinks for, you know, what's going to come in the future
03:02or how they can leverage a particular technique.
03:05Like from when we transition from black and white to colour.
03:09Correct.
03:10You know, we bring out our A game to the table.
03:12Correct.
03:13With regards to the same, with regards to AI and the various other technological developments in the area of filmmaking.
03:18How soon do you think that we as artist community, as artist fraternity will be able to grasp the actual power of all this that's going around?
03:28I think industry is pretty fast in adapting.
03:32Like I remember when 35mm film was there and I was in film school and Kamal sir was testing the red camera in our LV Prasad Film Institute, the studio there.
03:41And he was doing a test shoot.
03:42And he was doing a test shoot.
03:43The one in Kodambagam?
03:44Yes, yeah, yeah.
03:45That's where I studied.
03:46Oh.
03:47I'm from Chennai.
03:48Oh, okay.
03:49So Kamal sir was testing that camera and I remember all the people around saying, hey, it's just a fad and it will not happen.
03:52It is not going to happen.
03:53And it did.
03:54Yeah.
03:55So you cannot stop the march of technology.
03:58Yeah.
03:59And one has to adapt, one will adapt, the audience will demand it, the filmmakers will rise, the technological change will happen as it should.
04:07And experiments will keep happening, some will click, some will, but I think one thing which will never change is the way my heart beats.
04:15Yeah.
04:16And your heart beats.
04:17So as long as the heart is there in everything, the visual is only pixels.
04:22Yeah.
04:23The sound is only decibel.
04:24Yeah.
04:25But that feeling, that soul.
04:26Yeah.
04:27That is, as long as we have a heart.
04:29Yeah.
04:30That's very interesting.
04:31Like if you see, if you see around you, romance has been there from early man age.
04:34Yeah.
04:35They may say romance has changed.
04:36Yeah.
04:37No, romance has not changed.
04:38Oh, medium have changed.
04:39Yeah.
04:40Yeah.
04:41Today you call situationship, you call whatever.
04:42Yeah.
04:43But yeah, still the, the, the, the, the heart pains that I don't have that one person.
04:49Korean dramas are so successful because my wife watches Korean dramas like so many of her friends and she's dreaming of that.
04:57She always tells me you're not like that Korean guy, you're not romantic enough like that guy.
05:01So the heart remains the same.
05:03Yeah.
05:04I feel.
05:05Yeah, absolutely.
05:06So until we have a heart, like genetically our heart changes or our mind changes, I think storytelling and emotions will be the same.
05:12The form will keep changing and we have to be on the awareness of that as a, as a director.
05:18But I think for me as a filmmaker, I'm only looking for the soul, which I think soul is very old.
05:25Yeah.
05:26So it won't change that fast.
05:28And I have two questions quickly.
05:29Sure.
05:30Last two questions.
05:31You spoke about Korean drama, K-dramas.
05:33Now, considering India is such a diverse land, you know, the language changes practically every 100 kilometres, our food is very different, our values, our culture, our music, our stories, from our epics to everything in mainstream.
05:46Do you think Indian cinema in the coming few years, it will emerge as a force to be reckoned with and you know, will be a great rival to the Korean culture, the K-pop, the K-drama, the Korean food or everything that's going on there.
06:01See, our Indian culture itself does not see everything as rivalry.
06:06The way I have been brought up, the way we have all been brought up is, we are very accommodating of everything.
06:11Like for example, we say Vasudhaiva Kutumbak.
06:15So Korean drama, we are the biggest market, I think, for Korean drama.
06:20We love Korean drama.
06:21We love Hollywood.
06:22We are actually one of the most inclusive cultures in the world is our culture, right?
06:27And I think we have enormous amounts of storytelling in our DNA bars.
06:35Yeah.
06:36You go on the road, there are stories in Chai Ke Tappri.
06:40So much of interaction with our friends is through stories.
06:43We are a, we are a, I think, what is our strength is our community is our strength.
06:47That we are actually this place where you cannot escape from people.
06:52Yeah.
06:53I think, sometimes I feel like I have to go away from somewhere else.
06:56But go away from there and you will miss it.
06:58Yeah.
06:59You will feel the loneliness.
07:00You will feel the loneliness there.
07:01So I think that community we have, the amount of, we talk too much, we keep telling stories.
07:05But that is the beauty of our civilization and our country.
07:08The fact that we have so many stories.
07:11And how is it so beautiful that the grandmother told me the same stories?
07:15Irrespective of the religion.
07:16Yeah.
07:17Whether you are Hindu, Muslim, Christian, we all have similar cultural roots here.
07:21Yeah.
07:22And we celebrate everything.
07:23We celebrate, I celebrate Christmas, I celebrate Eid, I celebrate everything.
07:27And they also do the same.
07:28Yeah.
07:29So India is a country which people can't understand.
07:31They are wondering why is this, why is this country working?
07:35So I think that storytelling is, I feel, the Indian storytelling like Rajamuli sir, like Aamir sir,
07:41these are all the people who are taking our stories to the world.
07:46Like Lagaan went to Oscars, La Pata Ladies was nominated from here.
07:51RRR, people are dancing for RRR.
07:54I remember Lagaan mein, that time so many, so many analysts were telling,
07:59Oh, Lagaan didn't get Oscar that thing.
08:02Getting nominated itself is the biggest thing.
08:04Yeah, absolutely.
08:05But they said it didn't get nominated maybe because there is song and dance.
08:07And what happened in RRR?
08:09The main song and dance.
08:10So I feel we have a huge.
08:11The song won the Oscar.
08:12Yeah, we have the huge potential to tell stories to the world.
08:17And I don't think we need to rival anyone.
08:20We are ourselves.
08:21Sabka apna apna norma.
08:22Yeah.
08:23So yeh merah norma lehi.
08:24Apka norma lehi.
08:25Let's enjoy everything.
08:26And taking that further, you mentioned that the storytelling being in our DNA.
08:30Now we are one of the oldest civilizations.
08:32There is China, our neighbour, India of course, Greece and everything.
08:35Do you think it's the stories that has allowed a civilization to survive for so long?
08:41Folk tales, the stories.
08:42Stories are very important.
08:43Like you know, any civilization.
08:45I am now talking about the biology of evolution.
08:48Apparently, I read one quote the other day that storytelling is so important for our brain.
08:52That even when we sleep, it tells stories to us.
08:56Yes.
08:57That's our dreams.
08:58You know, so storytelling is apparently the only way we make sense of the world.
09:02To connect the past and the present and the future, we need a narrative.
09:05Yeah.
09:06True.
09:07Because otherwise our mind will go, you know.
09:09It will go all over the place.
09:10Even when we see some pattern of a cloud, we recognize an elephant.
09:13Yeah.
09:14Because our, we have a storytelling brain.
09:16We need stories.
09:17Absolutely.
09:18Abhi, if you are sitting quietly somewhere, getting bored, come, kya bolte hai?
09:21Eh, kuch kahani bolte hai, yaar.
09:23Rat mein, horror story bolte hai, camp mein.
09:25So I think it is in our human existence, storytelling is so important.
09:30Which is why whatever the form, short movies, big movies, insta movies, the form can change.
09:37Yeah.
09:38Storytelling can never go out of fashion.
09:40We have to adapt ourselves and learn.
09:41Yeah.
09:42Absolutely.
09:43How to tell the stories in new ways.
09:44Okay.
09:45And lastly, we spoke about social media and one of the previous questions.
09:48Now, as a director, I am sure you must be going through, you know, rummaging through
09:52social media pages, scanning social media, crawling through social media.
09:55There is a certain kind of narrative that's building for the film.
09:58Do you have anything to say on that?
09:59I am getting a lot of love.
10:01And there is so much of appreciation for our, for our sitare.
10:06Every time I get messages saying that, wow, the sitares are so good.
10:10In fact, all the, all the videos you are putting out of sitare and where they come from and the behind the scenes and how they speak about, come and watch the film.
10:21What's the film?
10:23It's our film.
10:24You know, I am getting so much of love.
10:25I have not gotten this much of love in such a short amount of time.
10:27And it's all thanks to the sitare and Aamir sir.
10:29Because I think people are, what I can see is people are waiting to see an Aamir film.
10:35People are waiting to see Tare Zameenpar ka spiritual sequel.
10:38And also I think somewhere the sitares have connected.
10:41And finally, what I am getting a sense is that it looks like a happy film.
10:45Yeah, absolutely.
10:46And I want a happy film.
10:48Yeah.
10:49So I feel that mahol is, is, is very evident.
10:53That's what makes it a blockbuster.
10:54The whole family coming together to watch a happy film.
10:56Hopefully.
10:57Yeah.
10:58Hopefully.
10:59Right now what I am getting is, is a lot of love and a lot of this thing that also makes us nervous.
11:04We are, hopefully this, this, this love will multiply and it should, it should all come through well.
11:11Perfect.
11:12So on that note, we have reached the end of this conversation.
11:14If there's anything that I may have missed asking as a question or something that you would have loved to talk about.
11:17So please feel free.
11:19I'd only love, love to add one thing.
11:21I think your questions are amazing.
11:22I had a great time.
11:24I have one thing that this movie could not have happened, if not for the parents of the sitare.
11:29Because the parents of the sitare are the reason why this movie can happen today.
11:34If they had not produced these remarkable children.
11:37Yeah.
11:38And they had not given them the, the love, affection, care, the resources.
11:42The right teaching.
11:43Yeah.
11:44They would not have been the stars they are today.
11:46So I always tell the parents that thanks to all of them, we had a job to do.
11:52Right.
11:53So I would love to thank the parents of the sitare.
11:55And because Amir sir, of course, is, is, I'm always grateful to.
11:59But the parents of sitare, they are not part of the film industry.
12:03I am at the film industry.
12:04Anyway, they will guide us exactly.
12:07Bye.
12:08My offering, I will love you again to see the society today.
12:09No one should come.
12:10It is a very nice, unexpected thing.
12:11I am sorry.
12:12I will not say anything about the museum industry,ём industry.