Having stormed into the industry with his script for the film Swayamvaram in 1999 and then Nuvve Kavali in 2000, Trivikram soon became a celebrity in his own right.
Though he continued to write scripts for successful films like Chiru Navvutho, Nuvvu Naku Nachav, Nuvve Nuvve and Manmadhudu to name a few, Trivikram says that directing was always his calling.
“From the time I was a child, I wanted to make films. I’d watch a movie everyday without fail and in the course of time, even though I didn’t know the jargon, I’d come to recognise the various technical aspects involved,” he begins.
Settled comfortably in the simple office space of his house, what strikes one is the absence of the tell-tale signs of success that adorns the walls.
Instead, a few posters of films including one of Sherlock Holmes and a wall dedicated to a whole host of books tell more of the man.
“I love reading and have read so much in my life. There were a lot of books at home when I was child; I guess that’s where it started.” Reading mostly in Telugu and English, including translations from other languages, he professes that he is a fan of books that are translations by Chakrapani.
"Aluri Chakrapani had learnt Bengali from a fellow bed-mate when he was hospitalised at one point of time.From that experience, he began translating books from Bengali to Telugu.Such was the craftiness of the man!” While speaking to man, his voracity for reading and the depth to which he thinks is anything but inconspicuous, the same isn’t reflected with the same intensity in his films.
Smiling he comments, “I try to put in a little of my philosophy in some of the dialogues. But they are not very heavily laden because nobody comes to watch a film to listen to a lecture.”
A master’s graduate in Nuclear Physics, Trivikram is still very much in tune with his scientific side.
“I was always drawn to the subject. As a student I would always fare well in it.” The director was in fact a teacher before his shift to films. However, his foray into his master’s programme was hardly an academic choice.
“When I’d completed my bachelor’s in science I took up a teaching job in a local school in Bhimavaram. One day I was sitting in the staff room and overheard a conversation between two other staffers. One chap was talking about an LIC policy while the other about his wife. That really jolted me as I wondered if a couple of years down the lane I would be sitting there like them. That’s why I really took up my master’s, as an escape route. But I still knew I would become a director one day, somehow.”
Having been in the industry for the past 10 plus odd years, he observes that films are now slowly shifting towards a particular kind of direction.
“The shift in the industry is towards single emotion films. The time span has shortened from three hours to just over two and the number of songs in the film are diminishing. We just don’t have the time anymore to explore too many angles in a single film.”
On the strength of our scriptwriting he says, “We’re brilliant when it comes to the exposition scene. Up till Act two we do a fabulous job. But our craft, and I say this of myself too, is limited till there. We are yet to master how to pick up a film in the second half.
Hollywood has done that and has almost created a science as to how to flow the story.That is the difference.”
In his career of five films as director and about 16 as a scriptwriter, 39-year-old Trivikram has dealt with most emotions, including spirituality and its relationship with society. Talking about his philosophy, he says, “I am a religious person and then again I’m not. When you read our religious texts you realise that a lot has been misconstrued based on society’s fear.Our society has changed a lot, and mostly for the worst.” So is writing scripts a form of escapism?
“I wouldn’t say that. There’s just a lot going on in my head and I think I write to sort through that. The kind of person I am, once it’s all figured out I might just stop all of this.”