We shot Bhairava Geetha in 80 different locations to capture the soul of Rayalaseema: Siddhartha Shankar

He may be all of 22, but filmmaker Siddhartha Thatholu, who made his debut with

Bhairava Geetha

this week, exudes a confidence about his craft that belies his age. “When you are making a love story, there are only so many ways in which you can say it. The template is always the same. But it’s the presentation, the style and the realistic approach that I took, that makes my film stand out,” says Siddhartha, who recreated

Rayalaseema

of the 90s for this love saga penned by his guru Ram Gopal Verma and Ram Vamsi.

Interestingly, the film was shot at 80 different locations, all because Siddhartha didn’t want to use sets. “We didn’t repeat even a single location and neither did we use sets. I was very particular about that. I wanted to extract the best out of real locations so the film has a soul,” he says, adding, “it was a conscious decision to cast Dhananjay and Irra Mor as the leads. I chose new artistes on purpose because I wanted no baggage attached to them. The fact that they’re theatre artistes was a plus.”

Siddhartha says that the film will transported viewers to Rayalaseema. “Be it the colour tone, local ambience or even the music, the tone of the film is completely different from regular commercial fare. DOP Jagadeesh Cheekati and I decided on every minute element, be it the costumes or even the ‘extras’, before we began shooting,” he says, adding, “some of the key sequences had more than 500 people in a single frame. That’s how I shot the climax and pre-climax sequences.”

Producer Abhishek Nama, who has produced out-of-the-box films like Keshava, Saakshyam, Goodachari and now Bhairava Geetha released the film in over 300 theatres across AP and Telangana. “Sid is only 22 and yet, he has done such a commendable job. No one watching the film can believe that such a young person has directed such an intense film. I’m happy to be encouraging such new and young talent,” he says.

Bhairava Geetha is being produced by Abhishek Nama, Bhasker Rashi under Abhishek Pictures and presented by Ram Gopal Varma.