“Nothingness is the highest meditative state” declares Clax. A casual inquiry into the filmmaker’s unusual nom de plume led to a philosophical takeaway, also inadvertently setting the tone for the rest of my telephonic interview. Born as Uddaraju Venkata Krishna Panduranga Raju in the town of Vempadu near Bhimavaram, Andhra Pradesh — the filmmaker, who is making his directorial debut with Bedrulanka 2012, reveals that he named himself Clax after grade 12.
“Growing up, I did not speak a lot of English. I would strike up conversations with friends as a way of learning the language and during that time, I used Clax as a filler word a lot. The word is plain gibberish. But much to my surprise, when I googled the word for fun, I was led to an urban dictionary page, that defined Clax as nothing. It got me all excited, and I decided to stick with the name. Contrary to popular perception, nothingness is a state of bliss.”
The director’s rural Godavari background, combined with his nomenclature experiments also played a role in the creation of Bedrulanka, right down to its title. “We shot the film in a hamlet named Edhurulanka. Our story delves into the theme of fearmongering so I adopted some wordplay and changed the town’s name from Edurulanka (Island in the front) to a fictitious one named Bedurulanka (Island of fear). The ensemble cast in the film, presented in all their quirks and idiosyncrasies, have also been influenced by my growing up years in Vempadu.” tells Clax.
The writer-director tells that he began writing Bedrulanka 2012 way back in 2012 itself when he was working as an assistant director under Sudheer Varma for Swamy Ra Ra (2013). “I was watching Akira Kurosawa’s The Seventh Samurai (1954) and there is a dialogue in the film, about how people’s true natures burst out when they realise that there is no tomorrow. I juxtaposed the essence of this line with the hysteria around the 2012 Doomsday Conspiracy and that is how Bedrulanka 2012 was born,” says Clax.
When enquired about the genesis of his filmmaking career at large, Clax reveals that he stumbled into the world of cinema after moving to Hyderabad. “After a point, I could not live any longer in a village and wished to move out. My roommates in Hyderabad were film industry aspirants, I had a regular 9-5 job. During that time, I watched an Italian film called Life Is Beautiful (1997). That film really opened up my world, to the possibilities of cinema and the way it can influence people. It triggered my ambitions. I started reading books on filmmaking, became an assistant director and here I am.” quips Clax, who notes that his debut feature is the fruit of a decade’s worth of struggles.
The trailer of Bedrulanka 2012 reveals a marriage of social satire with the more mainstream beats of a hero romancing a girl and beating up goons. Did that evolve naturally or were the latter elements integrated into the film to make it palatable to the masses? “I think very deeply, but I am not a serious guy. My film is shaped by this paradox of my personality.
The two elements you mentioned came from there as well. There was zero strategising or shoehorning on my part. There is no set formula for making an entertaining film. If there was one, everyone would be doing it by now. Art is a gamble. Whether you like it or not, that is more important. How a film is interpreted is not in your control, it depends on the person viewing it.”
As Bedrulanka 2012 is inching closer to its August 25 release date, how does Clax hope his film to be perceived then? What can the audience expect from his film? “It will make you talk about things. I presented certain philosophies in a rather regular, everyday manner. There are jokes in the film that will make you laugh, but it will also make you think. The film will be like a slow poison, with definite takeaways. I can’t speak for others but I am fairly certain people will appreciate the film’s novel take on entertainment.” says Clax.