A journey of self-discovery

Sirpur Kagaznagar-born filmmaker speaks about his debut directorial Sita On The Road, how real incidents shape up the story

By   |  Published: 23rd Feb 2021  11:58 pmUpdated: 23rd Feb 2021  6:19 pm

Breaking their shackles of loneliness, five women set out on a journey of self-discovery. The musical trailer that was released recently tries to tell the story of how women are vexed being stereotyped and stigmatised in their lives. Before they say “enough”, a paradise of heaven awaits them. They set out on a road journey only to explore an unknown world full of magic.

Starring Kalpika Ganesh, Khatera Hakimi, Gayatri Gupta, Nesa Farhadi and Uma Lingaiah in the lead roles, Sita On The Road is being directed by Praneeth Yaron.

The Sirpur Kagaznagar-born filmmaker made the film taking inspiration from true incidents that happened. “Some of them grabbed national attention and a few didn’t see the light of the day. So, I didn’t have to write any script for it. I went with the idea of whatever is happening in the society. The overall theme has developed from the society itself. It needs new audience to encourage it,” says the director.

Poetic to the core

Director
Director Praneeth Yaron

Touted to be a first female-centric road film in the country, Sita On The Road is going to be a simplistic story without thrills and frills. “It is a straight and peaceful film where people just sit, watch and feel. Poetic to the core, the women in the film hit the roads on a bullet only to discover themselves… just sitting at a place in silence and rewinding their lives as to what’s going on. Audiences would get to see how beautiful our country is. We have shot in Vikarabad, parts of Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh’s Anantapur, before wrapping it in Goa. Some part of it was also shot in Bengaluru.”

Gory incidents of past

“The incidents related to a female actor and how the entire media entered the bandwagon of sensationalising the content by playing it over and again, even the Delhi Nirbhaya incident… they just made me feel we need to address these issues collectively as a society. Sita On The Road is a film that shows how beautiful women are. Society tagged them that they’re meant for household jobs.

Having a completely orthodox opinion how some women look at life and marriage, he says, “Marriage is being viewed as a tradition that is being followed without a reason. Nobody would give them a chance to have an individualistic opinion about life. Education and pursuing their passion in life are secondary again. The characters in the movie are vexed with the stereotypical mindset. They are just being nursed as inferior beings since childhood. Liberation itself is empowerment to them. It is my perspective at the end of the day,” he says.

A college dropout, Praneeth had his share of struggles to get into the film industry 10 years ago. He fetched roles in Ram Charan’s Orange, later in Shekar Kammula’s Avakaya Biryani, Endukante Premanta, and Gunnam Gangaraju’s production Katha. Praneeth had worked behind the camera as an assistant director for Orange, besides acting in it.


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