After a four-year hiatus, sound designer-turned-director Seshu KMR, is back in the reckoning with three projects—Antarjalam, Deccan Mafia and Dead Are Alive. Antarjalam tells the story of four YouTubers, who get into an unexpected situation while filming a ghost-hunting reality show. “It’s a psychological thriller set in a haunted estate, built nearly 450 years ago by then Nizam of Hyderabad.
We have begun the casting process and the auditions will commence in a fortnight from now. We will begin the shoot on February 25 and are planning to complete the entire production in 23 days,” shares Seshu, adding, “We are making efforts to bring Antarjalam to theatres this summer.”
Deccan Mafia, on the other hand, is a period drama that is loosely based on the Naxalism in Telangana. Commissioned by Aha, the series is set in Nalgonda and will have two seasons. “The first part touches upon the life of slain gangster Nayeem, while the second season is all about how the political-Naxalite nexus transformed into the mafia. We have shot the pilot project under the supervision of cinematographer Manoj Paramahamsa and are reworking the casting and the shooting schedules. In all probability, we are planning to take this project onto the sets by summer,” avers Seshu.
The third project is a Hindi-Telugu bilingual titled Dead Are Alive is being produced by Ram Gopal Varma. “We have completed about 25% of the shoot and have halted the proceedings due to the Omicron wave. The film will have more Hindi presence in its cast,” reveals Seshu.
The 127 B director is also bracing up for his new innings as the CEO of AVA Entertainment, a digital entertainment company to be launched by Vishnu Manchu in February. “I am really excited to collaborate with Vishnu’s AVA Entertainment, which primarily focuses on producing original homegrown content like short films, music albums, video songs, YouTube shows, and web series. I am taking charge as the CEO of this company, which caters to users across geographies,” he explains.
Meanwhile, Seshu has recently released a music video named Kala. Produced by Playback Entertainment, the song was written by Kavi Siddhartha and was crooned by Neha Karode. “The song makes you happy; you feel like listening on loop. It has had responses from music buffs across languages, including Zbigs aka Bujji, a young playback singer from Poland,” signs off Seshu.