Deva Katta interview: ‘Mayasabha' is not a biopic of Y S Rajasekhara Reddy or Chandrababu Naidu

The Hindu

3 days ago

Mayasabha: Rise of The Titans, the Telugu web series set to stream on Sony LIV on August 7, has sparked curiosity. The story traces the journeys of two friends who became political opponents in undivided Andhra Pradesh in the mid-1990s. The attire and mannerisms of actor Chaitanya Rao as MS Rami Reddy and Aadhi Pinisetty's portrayal of his character, Kakarla Krishnam Naidu, has evoked comparisons with the former Chief Minister, the late YS Rajasekhara Reddy, and the Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh, N Chandrababu Naidu. However, writer-director Deva Katta asserts that the series is fictional and attempts to portray the evolution of the Telugu States.
Edited excerpts from the interview:
Mayasabha's premise is bound to make viewers draw real life parallels. To what extent does the story mirror true incidents and personalities?
It is possible that the audiences will draw parallels to real life personalities. My intention was to portray the emotions that drive the characters. The idea came from one of our producers who is a huge fan of House of Cards and likes my earlier film, Prasthanam. House of Cards can be perceived as a reflection of the United States' politics but remains relevant outside of it too.
Mayasabha looks at the political awakening in the Telugu States since 1975 — the rise and fall of naxalism, factionism, and other aspects. The drama surrounding friendship, families and rivalries has elements of the Mahabharata. Mayasabha presents a ground-level perspective of leaders who rose from a rural background, wanting to be educated, and aspiring to serve the people.
For a long time, people of Andhra Pradesh did not experience real democracy. They did not know who would be the next Chief Minister. The candidate was appointed by the head of one national party, almost like how the British appointed a Viceroy. New leaders broke this format. I cannot term Mayasabha a biopic of two leaders since we are limited by our observation and perceptions even if we set out to depict someone's story.
The story begins with a political coup and a character's dilemma if he should be opposing his father-in-law. This evokes memories of the tussle between the late NT Rama Rao and Chandrababu Naidu…
These are grand events that shaped the State and in turn, our lives. The story is inspired by such incidents. I am sure things would not have transpired as shown in the series — one leader making a phone call to his friend, who is now a political opponent, and seeking guidance. We reach out to a close friend when there is an existential crisis. I wanted to explore the duality of friendship and respectful rivalry that shaped Andhra Pradesh's politics. This incident forms the bridge between the first and second season of the series.
Is the title a metaphor to the struggle for power and ambition to reach the Assembly?
Mayasabha has connotations to the Mahabharata and can be interpreted as a metaphor to the State Legislative Assembly. An initial title in consideration was Indraprastha, referring to the capital city. But I wanted to break free of any title that would bring back memories of Prasthanam, which is still considered my best work. I want to and hope to do something better than that.
Tell us about the research that went into writing the series?
I enjoy the research aspect of writing a story the most. My debut film, Vennela, came from my surroundings, basically the life of students. Prasthanam and Republic were backed by a lot of research. I read and listen to multiple points of view, including Amit Varma's podcast Seen and Unseen. All those perspectives have helped give my stories and characters depth.
How did you go about writing the caste dynamics to depict situations but not offend any community?
The story of India is the story of caste; no one can deny that. The caste system might have emerged due to some reason in the past, but I believe it should not become a tool to suppress people. We took extreme care to depict social situations; the focus is on the debates rather than praising or accusing any character or community. Everyone has their point of view in their existential crisis and we have attempted to portray this. There are 260 characters that have dialogues in this series and compared to my films, this is a bigger arena.
Spanning nine episodes, this series has the duration of nearly three feature films. How did you complete filming within three months?
We shot for 89 days. We targeted having the final cut of five-minute worth of footage each day. The initial episodes are centered on family drama and college years. As the focus shifts to politics, the canvas becomes larger. We pulled it off thanks to a great team that helped with pre-production and planning. Ample help came from my co-writer and co-director Kiran Jay Kumar and producer Vijay Krishna, who also worked with me in Prasthanam.
How did you go about the casting process? Sai Kumar plays a character that has parallels to the legendary NT Rama Rao.
The choice of Sai Kumar garu, Srikanth Iyengar, and several others were unanimous calls as the script evolved. Major credit for the casting should go to Kiran who knew the strength of each actor. We also chose actors from theatre background, and a few others for their persona. If they were limited by their dialogue delivery or acting skills, we did workshops. Nazreen and Bhavana were great finds to play pivotal female characters. On the whole, it was like a huge drama company. If the casting is right, the journey is manageable.
Most of your films have been social or political commentaries. In Republic, you quote George Orwell: 'In our age, there is no such thing as keeping out of politics'. Do you consider cinema as infotainment/edutainment?
My next film will be intense and layered but will have nothing to do with politics. It might be the start of Deva Katta 2.0. Art has to be aspirational and I wanted my stories to have some aspiration. I recently came across director Vetrimaaran's interview in which he said 'anything is politics'. I agree. We cannot be ignorant; we need to be politically aware.
You worked on a web series on Sivagami, exploring events before Baahubali-the Beginning. The series was shelved. Did that experience on working on long-format storytelling help during Mayasabha?
It definitely helped. We (Rajamouli and Arka Media production house) aimed to achieve something on the lines of the Game of Thrones but pulled back for various reasons. It was a collective decision. Arka Media is among the best production houses I have worked with and we are planning something together.
You have often cited Breaking Bad and The Godfather among the works that have influenced you. Was Mani Ratnam's Iruvar — a story of friends turning political opponents — also a reference point for Mayasabha?
Mani Ratnam is among the filmmakers who has influenced me the most. Iruvar was a great visual oratory poetry; a piece of art. The treatment of Mayasabha is very different; it is more grounded to make the audiences relate to the characters.
(Mayasabha will stream on Sony LIV from August 7)