NO RIGHT OR WRONG IN FILMMAKING

Tollywood director Nag Ashwin was one among 14 versatile speakers at TEDxHyderabad. The brain behind hits like Mahanati and Kalki 2898 AD exclusively spoke to CE at the event

- ITIKA KRISHNA

HO doesn't love watching movies? For decades now, generations of audiences have enjoyed the performances of great actors and actresses in attractive locations, with action, romance, and comedy scenes, par for the course. But rarely do we stop to shower adulation on the brains behind it all—the director. There is one such brain in Tollywood too; when you watch his films on the big screen, you're just blown away by the mind-bogglingly impressive graphics and intricate storytelling. Be it Yevadu Subramaniam, Mahanati, or Kalki 2898 AD, director Nag Ashwin knows how to captivate the audience until the very last second. At the 10th edition of TEDxHyderabad, he charmed 1200 people all over again with his intellectual perspectives, and had a candid conversation with CE about his journey, filmmaking, and more.

Excerpts

How was your experience speaking at TEDxHyderabad?

I think we filmmakers or people from the industry get a lot more attention than we fully deserve, just because it's a glamorous field. But I was very happy to listen to the other speakers. The work that I've done in life is not necessarily as important as what others are doing. So, I'm just privileged to speak at TEDx.

Did you always want to be a director? Take us through your journey.