Some memories refuse to fade. The little joys of growing up, mischief with school friends, first crushes and carefree moments that once seemed ordinary often become the memories we cherish most. In a life consumed by work, deadlines and responsibilities, nostalgia offers a way back to simpler times. It is this sentiment that forms the heart of Gurthukostunnayi, the Telugu series streaming on ETV Win and Netflix.
Directed by Winod Gali, the series explores friendship, love, memories and the things we tend to leave behind as life moves forward. Speaking about the series, Winod says, “The story, screenplay and direction for this series have been done by me. It focuses on nostalgia. I wanted to show people all the forgotten things from our time. In the present day, everyone has become busy and has forgotten the nostalgic moments of their lives. I wanted to give them an opportunity to recollect those memories.”
The idea of using memory loss as the central device helped him take the story between the present and the past. “The story starts with a memory-loss patient who narrates the story. There are four friends and the main hero is Santosh. Because of his busy life, he is not able to give time to his friends and family. The story takes us back to his school days and his love story with Vyshali. Later, when he goes to Goa for his bachelor party, he meets with an accident and gets diagnosed with amnesia. He keeps forgetting things, and the story revolves around that,” he explains.
Winod’s journey into filmmaking began with an interest in animation and multimedia, although his family initially wanted him to pursue engineering. While pursuing his BTech, Winod directed a short film and later started creating content for YouTube.
“I wanted to learn as much as possible from them. Then I moved into advertisements and eventually into the mainstream industry. I shot a movie that became a hit on ETV Win. I continued in this field and eventually came up with Gurthukostunnayi,” he says. Winod names Ram Gopal Varma and Mani Ratnam as his biggest inspirations. “Movies like Shiva, Rangeela and Rakhta Charitra inspired me a lot,” he says. Mani Ratnam’s Bombay, he adds, is an all-time favourite. Finding the right actor for Santosh was equally important. Since the character is dealing with memory loss, Winod wanted someone who could bring innocence and vulnerability to the role. “Initially, Tamil actor Vaibhav was considered, but it did not work out. We then approached Viraj Ashwin from Baby. He was young, fit and right for the character,” he says. The writing and production of the series took several months. “It took around four to five months to write the script. I took help from other writers and the producer. The pre-production took about two months, and the shoot lasted around 51 days,” he says.
Talking about his future projects, Winod concludes sharing, “After this project, I got offers from big production houses. Next, I would like to work on emotional content. The next movie I will be working on is inspired by Chhichhore. I want to work with Allu Arjun sir. I also have a script written for him. If he says yes, I would love to make it happen.”