We don't have to come to Bollywood

Netflix’s first anthology in Telugu takes a brave chance with language and script, choosing to look at the dark side of love through female characters played by brave, vocal girls of the South

If you decide to watch Pitta Kathalu, on Netflix next Friday, you will find yourself drawn into the lives of the women in the films—watching them in awe, sometimes disbelief, but always with admiration. In colloquial Telugu, the title means “short stories”. The four-part anthology drama, co-produced by Ronnie Screwvala and directed by four different directors (Nag Ashwin, BV Nandini Reddy, Sankara Reddy and Tharun Bhascker Dhaassyam) presents tales of women who are trying hard to go against how society tells them to behave—and as a result, end up making decisions that could be seen as  immoral or grey. “To me, it’s empowering that the women and men are on equal footing. The idea centres around  desire. Each of our stories are different, but similar in that they discuss the freedom of desire, something that we don’t always get easily in this country,” says actress Lakshmi Manchu, who headlines the story Ramula. 

We are on a video call with Manchu and her co-stars Sanvee Megghana, Amala Paul and Eesha Rebba, and their banter is refreshing. “A lot in the stories reflects the power dynamics of the man-woman relationship,” says Megghana. Rebba adds, “I think women will relate to it since the female characters take drastic decisions, after struggling with them. Usually you don’t have stories that show women sticking their neck out for fear of judgement.” Paul, who plays a particularly grey character in the story Meera, says that some women find themselves stuck in a loop of suffering because they choose to meet societal expectations. “In this anthology, it’s about making a choice that helps you. Because in the end, it has to be about you too.”

Sanvee Megghana in Ramula

Pitta Kathalu comes at a time when regional content is trending on OTT platforms, watched even by those who are strangers to a language. We have gone cuckoo over Korean dramas, and now it would seem an organic move to rely on the same subtitles and show some love for Indian languages. What’s immediately striking about Netflix’s first Telugu anthology is that the film is far removed from larger-than-life movies emerging from the South, making this one a possible draw even for viewers in other parts of the country. “Everyone thinks of us as ‘Madrasis’. Original content in Indian languages is as much about awareness as entertainment. We know far too little about the life, people and culture of states outside our own,” Manchu thinks. Megghana says, “It helps us make people all over India aware of our culture.” 

And for these actresses, it’s important that to be seen outside their industries by a ‘foreign’ audience, they no longer have to head to Bollywood. “When you do a web series, the reach is much better, as is the scale. Thanks to OTT, we are now in everybody’s living rooms across India,” says Manchu.

What they want right now though, is for audiences to embrace the change. Paul says, “I think films like these will break the stereotypes. Society and cinema is inter-related, so when we show women as different from goddesses or glam dolls, social perceptions stand a chance to change too.”

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