Chalam’s Maidanam is now a web film

Director-turned-producer Venu Udugula talks about the classic novel which will soon be a visual treat

Maidanam, one of the best literary works of Telugu novelist Chalam, is going to be a fullfledged web film now. The novel, Maidanam, undoubtedly, meets the best global standards of fiction-writing. It has been translated into a number of other languages over the decades. Venu Udugula, who directed Needi Naadi Oke Katha and Rana Daggubati starrer Virataparvam, has turned producer with Maidanam.

This Aha Original is being directed by Kavi Siddharth. At an event held on the eve of Diwali, the makers of the web film spoke about their product. “The novel was written in 1927. A number of critics have described it as a great work of Telugu literature. Writer Chalam wrote about the plight of women in a Telugu conservative family system in the pre-Independence era. With angst and poetic flourish, the story is worth telling to silver screen audiences. Each of the scenes in the novel brings out the dynamics of the man-woman relationship in a family setup in a distinct way. Chalam garu criticised a society that sees women as lifeless objects,” Venu Udugula said.

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Sharing further details, he said that most of the scenes in the novel were drawn from Chalam’s observations and experiences in life. The writing style in the novel is versatile and unique. Each of the characters is so true-to-life. “Our web film is a visual narration of the acclaimed novel. From poems to beauty and to love, there are a lot of themes in it.

Maidanam is that highbrow content that challenges the imagination of a filmmaker. That’s why so many have feared to adapt it into a film so far. Even classical modes of filmmaking may not do full justice to the masterpiece. Unless the filmmaker marshalls all his creative energies, he wouldn’t be able to do justice to the most post-modern material. This requires a lot of courage, guts and creativity.

We hope we are rejuvenating the creative energy of the industry with this web film. We will be announcing the details of the cast and crew of Maidanam soon,” Venu said. Music is by Suresh Bobbili.

 

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