Gautami Challagulla: The web series specialist

  • | Wednesday | 22nd November, 2017

Working actively in the writing department for web-series like Posh Poris, Social and Mana Mugguri Love Story, Gautami has cemented her position as a web series specialist. “It’s a challenge for me to be cater to a larger medium, I will be directing a web series soon too. What differentiates web series from cinema is the focus on multiple protagonists who have interesting character arcs. The fact that Posh Poris led to discussions and debates meant we got our ideas right,” she adds. Gautami Challagulla is on the last leg of her rehearsals for her Kuchipudi performance that comes after a three-year gap.

Gautami Challagulla is on the last leg of her rehearsals for her Kuchipudi performance that comes after a three-year gap. With a diploma in dance, she has been performing since two decades now. Yet her on-stage capabilities are matched by her off-stage skills. Working actively in the writing department for web-series like Posh Poris, Social and Mana Mugguri Love Story, Gautami has cemented her position as a web series specialist. Gautami’s characters often mirror the travails of an urban woman, she puts forward their flaws without undermining their personality, a rarity in the mainstream entertainment industry. This emerged as a conscious decision that she took when male buddy films on the lines of 3 Idiots and Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara were on the rise. She recalls, “I felt I too had a life like this outside, so why wasn’t it being represented on screen, I wondered. We share similar buddy, comic relationships with women as well.” That prompted her to do a thesis on women friendships in cinema too. “Usually, men’s characters come in multiple shades, the women is restricted to be a victim or a whore or a firebrand like Vijayashanti’s roles. I find some female characters even more patriarchal than men in exercising authority. We have our own flaws as well and it was time we put it outside.” On that note she’s happy with the start she got with Posh Poris. She had anticipated a backlash from a certain section who would object to the portrayal of women in it, but she didn’t want to underestimate her audience. “Telugu One management like Ravi Shankar, Rama Devi and their team, we were all in sync. The fact that Posh Poris led to discussions and debates meant we got our ideas right,” she adds. A mechanical engineering student who worked in the IT sector for 7 years, it was her masters at HCU that helped her learn and unlearn about a lot of ‘ism’s. “I can mark my ‘before’ and ‘after’ phases in my life with this stint.” The wide spectrum of the communication course, a crowd that entertained and respected a dialogue instilled a lot of confidence in her. She ended up topping the course, but she took time to be a writer. About her foray into writing, she says, “Earlier, I ran my own production company where we made documentaries and educational videos. Interactions with scientists and farmer groups added layers of knowledge. I felt the groundwork was ready.” In 2016, she wanted to move onto a medium that’s more accessible. “I felt it wasn’t wrong to be entertaining and deliver your content.” Her dad being a voracious reader used to read out works of Gurram Joshua and other legendary writers during childhood. Even now, she balances her reading lists with a serious non-fiction and a no-brainer where she can flip pages. Did she consider languages other than Telugu to make a mark too? “Riding a bicycle is an involuntary action and then I decide which path to take. I am a Telugu person, so I think in Telugu. Yet saying that, Social was a bilingual.” Often writers have minor conflicts with directors as they try to meet their vision. However Nandini Reddy, Aparna Malladi, Shashi Sudigala and Shashank Yeleti have found Gautami flexible. “The basic discipline of sticking to a role and not interfering, was instilled in me right through my college life. Finally a film is a director’s narration, somewhere we have to come to terms.” She adds, “I don’t budge when my characters behave in a way they aren’t supposed to. I listen to them and they listen to me.” Having also directed select short films, she reveals the story decides the medium. “If we feel it’s a plot that has multiple stories and sub-plots, it needs to go into a web-series format. What differentiates web series from cinema is the focus on multiple protagonists who have interesting character arcs. I’m a super fan of Grey’s Anatomy. When there’s a small idea which I want to test, it takes a short film medium.” With star casts of web series getting bigger, she finds it an opportunity and not a burden. “If I talk about victim blaming, people will point fingers at me, when Rana does it, people sit up and take notice. That is star power. Voicing opinions with bigger stars always helps.” Her next big test is her feature debut with a veteran director. “It’s a challenge for me to be cater to a larger medium, I will be directing a web series soon too. Eventually I want to be director and writer, though I respect the writer in me more. Writing comes to me naturally, while dance is my alter-ego.”

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