Foodies on-screen are often judged for prioritising food above anything else in life, but here is Aloo Fry, an independently released Telugu film, that tells a story through the eyes of one. Aloo Fry begins with a friend asking the protagonist (residing in Hyderabad) about heading to Vijayawada to check out a tiffin centre. Directed by Mohan Vamsi, the film captures the travails of a couple (played by Sriteja Jeedigunta and Ramya Ramesh) who bond over food.
Sriteja, a Hyderabad-based techie who works at Capgemini, has also written the script and composed music for the film that mirrors the pulse of the eateries around Hyderabad. Sriteja has already worked in a Telugu film Vichakshana and a couple of Kannada films and been an author as well. “I had worked with Mohan Vamsi on another short film earlier. When he was looking for the script for his next, I suggested Aloo Fry. Incidentally, this is my love story in real life as well. We shot in the same locations and recreated real incidents, the only aspect that worked spontaneously is the equation with friends. What we also wanted to present through our attempt was the perspective of a girl, which is often ignored,” he adds. Rutham Samar, who was script consultant for Pelli Choopulu, also worked for Aloo Fry. “The project management skills from my day-job came in handy as I handled this project.”
Born and raised in Kanchipuram, Sriteja’s first love was music; he learnt playing the veena in his childhood. A casual interest in writing during his teens had him turn his breakup tale into a book titled The Three Strikes. “I approached people for work online. I knew the struggles of many short filmmakers to find composers for their films. I volunteered to work for short films made by students without remuneration. People ended up noticing my work.” His next stop was his work with film composer Harris Jayraj, ‘whose style has impacted my music’, mentions Sriteja .
Having managed his IT and film career well over half a decade, he adds. “I don’t want to quit my job yet. That’s a mistake many make by getting carried away by success. I’ll be happier if I’m financially stable first, get more offers and then see what I could do next. We want to create a fan-base with our independent films as of now.”
After Aloo Fry, a leading script writer has even approached the team for a film, but they plan to go slow. His next Telugu film as a music director is Dark, directed by Aravind Ganesh.