From newsroom to narrative

The lines drawn connected h2o are invisible — and truthful are the travails of fishermen who transverse them successful hunt of a livelihood, often landing successful overseas jails. Munneeti Geethalu (Lines connected Water), penned by noted writer Chintakindi Srinivasa Rao based connected the real-life experiences of specified fishermen, caught the imaginativeness of manager Krish Jagarlamudi, who introduced him to Amazon Prime.

Arabia Kadali — the communicative of fishermen from North Andhra who migrate to Gujarat for enactment and onshore successful Pakistani jails aft unknowingly crossing planetary waters — is presently the No. 1 trending web bid connected Amazon Prime.

A autochthonal of Chodavaram successful the erstwhile Visakhapatnam district, Mr. Srinivasa Rao is good known among the city’s writer fraternity. He began his vocation with Eenadu in 1989 and aboriginal worked with Andhra Prabha and different newspapers during a three-and-a-half-decade stint successful journalism. Over the years, helium has seamlessly transitioned from writer to communicative writer, screenplay and dialog writer, and now, to actor.

People tin present ticker him connected OTT platforms in Arabia Kadali, successful which helium plays the quality of Mukhalingam. The eight-episode bid features Satyadev and Anandi successful the pb roles. It was Krish who suggested that Srinivasa Rao would suit the relation perfectly — a proposition that proved spot-on.

“I utilized to signifier plays during my precocious schoolhouse and inferior assemblage days successful Chodavaram. My novel Munneeti Geethalu, which addresses the aforesaid theme, received the TANA Award successful 2021. That brought maine into interaction with Krish, which paved the mode for my large interruption successful the web series,” Mr. Srinivasa Rao told The Hindu.

“At that time, Krish was moving on Hari Hara Veera Mallu, starring Pawan Kalyan. He gave maine the accidental to constitute a fewer dialogues for the film, on with different writers. Pawan Kalyan besides encouraged maine immensely,” helium recounted.

“While moving connected the web series, Krish asked maine to constitute a communicative for his adjacent film. I wrote Ghaati, based connected ganja cultivation successful the Eastern Ghats. While cultivators and transporters often extremity up successful jails, brokers and smugglers marque each the money. Actor Anushka was impressed with the publication and readily agreed to instrumentality up the role,” helium observed.

“Ganja cultivation is simply a societal occupation and should not beryllium viewed simply arsenic a law-and-order issue. Why would guiltless tribal farmers edifice to cultivating ganja if the authorities ensured due selling facilities for their nutrient — rice, vegetables, and pulses? They deficiency infrastructure similar acold storages and processing units,” helium explained.

The film Ghaati, featuring Anushka Shetty and Vikram Prabhu successful the pb roles, was aboriginal released nationwide.

Mr. Srinivasa Rao has written implicit 100 plays, six novels, and 10 playlets. When asked however his journalism inheritance shaped his originative work, helium said, “It gave maine societal awareness. I learnt however to conscionable radical and stitchery insights. My play Garbhagudi, based connected surrogacy, won the Nandi Award for Best Play from the Andhra Pradesh government.”

“I americium indebted to my schoolteacher Vajjala Ramakrishna, who encouraged maine to constitute and execute plays during my schoolhouse days successful Chodavaram, and to my parents, Chintakindi Nageswara Rao and Sithamma, who supported my dreams contempt fiscal hardships. Like the invisible lines connected h2o that fishermen unknowingly cross, my travel excessively has been shaped by unseen forces of guidance and support. I volition ever stay grateful to Krish Jagarlamudi for bringing my stories to beingness connected screen,” helium signs off.