Another bio-pic is in the making, this time unfolding the story of Padma Shri awardee Chintakindi Mallesham, the inventor of the ‘Asu machine’ that processes silk yarn mechanically. Director Raj who has an IT job in the US, came to Hyderabad to direct the movie titled Mallesham. Having done a course in filmmaking and screen writing, Raj had written and produced a Tamil film 11 years ago, but that was a disaster. He laments, “I didn’t know the language. I had better stories to tell but people said ‘let’s go with a safe one, not the best story’. So I produced it.” After that setback, he went back to the US and kept writing periodically while continuing his software job. For the last 18 months, he has been working on Mallesham.
The Asu story
The director shares that he saw a YouTube video of a talk by Mallesham, “The story was right there, I didn’t have to do much; I went purely by what I saw on video. It wasn’t a difficult decision though my family was against it. I also wanted to donate money to the Asu machine, so I began interacting with Mallesham. The first draft went only by the talk, not any personal info, later I bought the rights of the film. I didn’t deviate from what was in the talk. In between I fictionalized the wife and other characters.”
He explains that in the Pochampalli handloom style, there are two activities — a laborious pre-weaving process called Asu that is done by women and then the weaving that is done by men.
To create a Pochampalli Ikat sari, the weaver has to stretch the arm continuously to wind yarn around two sets of pegs or tins on either end of a 4-foot structure before the sari woven. In the long run, the process causes arthritis, so much so that Mallesham’s mother couldn’t continue doing it due to her shoulder pain. Following that, Malleshan, a sixth grade drop out, worked to create machine that could ease the process. Raj adds, “It was a struggle. When he designed a machine that would mechanise the Asu process in 1999, none knew about the invention. If he had not invented the ASU machine, Pochampalli handloom may have been extinct by now. Weaver women benefited immensely with the invention; there are more looms in the house and there is increased production.
Director Raj
The real feel
He shares, “Initially I roped in four screenplay writers. They took my material and came up with their version but I didn’t like it, so I decided to go with my vision. After I developed it, others showed interest to direct it. But I wasn’t prepared for conflict in the direction department and did it on my own.”
After three visits to Pochampalli, Raj began living there for the pre-productionobserving and studying the people, place and the locations he found interesting. He observes that in a few years time, those locations may not be visible, villages are becoming cities now, so one may not find the mud roads and tiled houses typical to villages. He shares, “Priyadarshii was an apt choice as Mallesham. In another 20 days I will be able to wrap it up. Lot of good people got associated and I am hopeful about people receiving it well.”