Manasa Dinakar's love for reading goes back to her younger days when she found herself happiest between the pages of books by Paulo Coelho, Jane Austen, Poornachandra Tejaswi, Saisuthe and MK Indra.
Today, her voracious reading habit has come in handy as she turns scriptwriter for Life Jothe Ondu Selfie. "Reading has helped me to express my own writing better," she says.
The film, directed by Dinakar Thoogudeepa features Prem, Prajwal Devaraj and Hariprriya. Currently awaiting approval from the censor board, Manasa says that the final choice of the subject for the film was her husband's. "Out of three choices, he felt that this one had a fresh perspective," she says about the film whose script took a year to work on before the filming began.
Manasa is not new to film circle, with her husband Dinakar being an established director; her father-in-law, Thoogudeepa Srinivas, remembered as a fine actor of yesteryears; and brother-in-law Darshan coming to be known as Challenging Star for his films.
While she was a homemaker post- marriage, she started writing on and off, which she says came to her naturally. "I grew up with extended family in my village. All of us lived in the same vicinity. I used to observe the bonding we shared, and the relationships from close quarters. I've brought in all these nuances in Life Jothe Ondu Selfie," she says.
In addition to the writing of the film, Manasa has also been involved in its making. From Day 1, she was on the sets right until the last action-cut. Manasa also dabbled with dialogues and costume designs for the film. It's at that point she realised how 'possessive' she was about the film. "I never knew I could get so possessive. But at the same time, I also realised that not all that is written works on screen. The story needs some cinematic liberties for entertainment purpose. Dinakar and I have argued so much on this," she says.
At this point, Manasa says she is more tense than her husband about the film's release and review.
"Dinakar knows his work even though he's directing a film (Saarathi) after almost six years He is very serious at work and expects the same kind of involvement from everyone," she says.So, what can the expect from Life Jothe Ondu Selfie? "In life we tend to complicate the simplest of issues making it hard to take decisions. The turmoil and confusion is what the film will look at," she says.