Phalana Abbayi Phalana Ammayi is a love story that defies genres: Srinivas Avasarala

Is this a rom com ? It’s a question Srinivas Avasarala has been asked a lot since the teaser of Phalana Abbayi Phalana Ammayi (PaPa) released. The actor-turned-director isn’t quite sure about what genre it fits in. “I can’t bracket films into a certain genre… I’d say perhaps it’d fall under mumblecore,” he says. For the uninitiated, it’s a subgenre of indie films that revolve around personal relationships with an emphasis on dialogue over plot.

Naga Shaurya and Malvika Nair play the protagonists who meet in college and cross paths again a few years later. “Love takes a lot of sacrifice, sometimes people fall in love but they don’t have the wherewithal to take it to its conclusion. My film deals with what barriers people build against love,” he quips, adding, “The romance, like composer Kalyani Mallik’s music in the film, has an old-world charm. It delves deep into human emotions. I tried to keep it as real, honest and uncinematic as possible. Hopefully, it will mirror everyone’s love story in some sense and people will make their own meanings after watching the film. ” y

How much of his personal love story does PaPa draw on? “(Laughs) Let’s say, the most profound love story of my life is the one I’m in right now. But we’ll save that for another day,” he signs, off.

Produced by TG Vishwa Prasad and Dasari Padmaja under People Media Factory and Dasari Productions, Phalana Abbayi Phalana Ammayi is successfully running in theatres.