Ans. Mine was a dream break. If any director is making his debut movie he must make it with Ajit and Mr. Chakravarthy. They made sure that whatever I envisioned as a director was brought to the screen. In the team that worked on this movie I am the only raw hand, all the other technicians are seasoned pros, the best in the industry. I had the complete cooperation and support of the entire team that consists of big names like Ajit, Chakravarthy, Kamalkannan, Minnale Rajshekar, Sabu Syril and Sreekar Nani.

Q. Why have you named the movie Red?

Ans. The expansion of Red is Revolution, Education and Development. The hero was abandoned on the street as a child. It is his quest in life to make sure that others get what he was deprived of as a child - the chance to get a good education.

In most movies there is always a mother figure, but in the movie such a person does not feature. The hero is abandoned on a chariot as a child. And this chariot becomes his mother figure. He talks to it and shares all his ups and downs with it and when the bells on the chariot ring he feels that his mother has spoken to him.

Q. What is special about the story and the movie?

Ans. Most movies have a straight narration, this is not the case with Red. It has Reader Coverage - by this I mean that a person is inspired by the hero's actions and writes a weekly serial in the magazine about whatever happens in the hero's life. The readers become totally involved and emotional about the hero. But they do not know the hero's identity because the writer changes the name and the place.

The Censor did not make any cuts in the movie and that gave me the satisfaction of making a socially relevant movie in a way that everyone would like.

The movie also does not have a separate comedy track. The humour is an integral part of the story. Something happens that evokes laughter, then the characters move on with life.

The actors dress in sync with the characters they play. No designer jeans for a character that lives on the streets.

Q. Why did you choose Media Artists to mix the sound of Red?

Ans. For good sound, it has to be Media Artists. Good movies like Lagaan and Dil Chahta Hai have been mixed here, so I wanted to mix the sound of Red here. Geeta and Satish worked on the sound and have done a good job. Nobody treated me as a new director, they gave me the same help and cooperation they would have given a senior technician.

Another reason for coming to MA is that we can bring the effects, music and dialogue in as many tracks as we want, no limitations here. They have the capability to work on it and bringing even the smallest of sounds alive.

In many sound studios if there are over 32 tracks and in some cases even over 18 tracks they will ask us to dump the extra tracks within the stipulated 18 or 32 tracks before starting. This will result in the loss of small 'detailing' effects that really make the difference between a good sound and an excellent sound.

Q. Why did you choose the DTS format for your movie?

Ans. Please and Thank you are two important words for a human being. Similarly Effects and Rerecording are very important to a film. Fights, train sequences and things like that come to life with the sound. It has the ability to engross the audiences in unbelievable things. Cut off the above in movies like Star Wars and Last Crusade and you will not be able to sit for more than 10 minutes. They will not have depth.

Q. Tell us something about your first experience as an independent director?

Ans. I was very fortunate to get my break with two wonderful people - Ajit and Mr. Chakravarthy. Ajit, in spite of being such a busy star he set aside over 100 days for my movie, shaved his head, wore crumpled shirts and dedicated all his time and effort for this project. Mr. Chakravarthy is a dream producer whose wholehearted support was completely astounding. Panther cranes, different types of lights, steady cams, whatever I asked for would be on the sets the very next day. Then he left it to my ability to make the best use of all the resources.

Q. How was the movie edited?

Ans. Sreekar Prasad edited the movie on the Avid. Editing on the Avid is sheer pleasure and convenience. All effects like dissolves can be seen immediately. No more waiting for the film to be processed to see the effects.

It was a pleasure working with a person of his caliber. He would hum a tune while editing. Only later I understood that he hummed a love song while editing a romantic track, a sad song while editing a track of that nature. This got him into the mood and the rhythm. He is an excellent judge of what the audience wants, that is one of the major reasons for him getting 5 national awards.