Discussing Historical Themes in Cinema

I was born and raised entirely in Rayalaseema.

Mm.

So whenever the summer holidays came, I'd go to my mother's village and my father's village.

I would go.

Mm.

Whenever I went, even looking at this set now, the whole exterior plan is based on my mother's

village's design. Where the well is, where the arch is, the fort, the town.

Everything outside is the town, everything inside is the fort. So all these stone structures are within a fence.

Stone structures.

Mm.

These are all stone houses. This house, too, is my grandparents' house.

It's a design called the Hundred-Pillared House.

Oh, a hundred pillars.

The Hundred-Pillared House.

Wow.

So even if you count, there are a hundred pillars in the design.

It's all there, upstairs and downstairs too.

Did you also make a hundred pillars in this?

Yeah, yeah, this is the Hundred-Pillared House design.

Mm.

So, from childhood, whenever I went to the village, I used to time travel.

That city is in Kurnool, but when you go into the village, actually…

The people,

the atmosphere, the situations, there are so many stories within.

Deep inside.

Mm.

I’d always wanted to tell this story, and I’ve come across this again,

this history, our history.

Mm.

So I felt this combination was an amazing way to tell a story to the world.

So that’s where it started.

Yeah.

Yeah.

And the thing is, generally, between the British and us Indians,

we know all about the freedom fighters and the struggle that took place.

But I heard there's more than that about the culture of

those days. Is that true?

Correct, correct, exactly correct.

Mm-hmm.

Because the story we are telling now in this film is the Madras famine, things like this—

Thirty famines occurred.

Mm-hmm.

So, people in every state in India have had this experience.

No matter whose ancestors you look at, they have gone through this.

Yes.

And villages still exist in our country.

So, rural life has relevance to everyone.

I mean, when no crops grew at all, everyone was also at that—at that time

Even the British were here, and there was a time when these people couldn't get food.

That's what you're saying.

Correct.

Mm-hmm.

I mean, it's always been common for us not to get rain and for droughts to occur.

Mm.

It exists everywhere, but people learned how to live with it.

Mm.

They know. But even in such a situation, why

did so many people have to die?

That's the story. This is the history we have never

told until now.

So, for the first time, in a mainstream film, we are telling

this hidden history to the world.

Mm.

Through this beautiful setup of Ranabali and Jayamma

That is most important, sir.

In movies,

if stories like these had come out earlier, I would have gotten good marks in history.

But nobody taught us.

Hmm.

Yes.

No one puts them in our syllabus.

They put it on my page. It was really difficult.

The names go like three, four, five and so on.

It makes your head spin, right? Why should I study all this?

Yes.

Not at all.

Too many dates.

Hmm.

All this is there, right?

Names, dates. Were you good at history?

Terrible. I was good, I was decently good.

Really?

I like—

Nikhil knows history.

I love history.

Hmm, there was this one point.

Once, after the Ranabali shoot started,

she gave us some topic and then went down.

Hmm.