Gatham team mystery thriller ID bags Dadasaheb Phalke Award, does hulchul in festival circuit

Looks like there's no stopping the makers of 'Gatham'. Their first film has been streaming successfully on OTT. Upon its release in 2020, 'Gatham' was described as one of the best content-driven indie films made in Telugu. The film's director and lead actors have now joined hands for a dark mystery thriller titled 'ID', which has been a head-turner in the festival circuit. 

Even before its theatrical release, 'ID' has bagged 37 awards, 31 official selections, 5 honorable mentions, and 4 nominations in different film festivals. It has been screened to hundreds of audiences in North America. The applause is reminding the team of the success of 'Gatham'. What is more, 'ID' is making its debut soon at the Oakville Festivals of Film and Art, which is the Canadian Screen Awards equivalent to the Oscars.

Director Kiran Reddy Kondamadugula has cast Bhargava Poludasu and Rakesh Galebhe in unconventional roles. Owing to the film's quality technical output and its screenplay, it has secured awards at the Dada Saheb Phalke Film Festival. It appears that the jury loved the film whose resonant premise is this: What if you wake up one day and no one recognizes you!

Producers Subhash Ravada, Bhargava Poludasu, Harsha Pratap and Srujan Yarabolu roped in the eclectic composer Sricharan Pakala and a few technicians with exposure in Hollywood. The film's technical finesse is a result of a fusion between Telugu talents and the Hollywood experience brought to the table by cinematographer Horacio Martinez (ASC Mentee), production designer Caterina Piccardo (MFA) and editor Chota K. Prasad. 

"This is not just a screenplay-based movie with spine-chilling elements but is also ambitious in other ways. That's what made us take up the project," the producers said. The characters don't seem to be cliched or one-note. Actor Bhargava Poludasu, for one, has played a deeply flawed, vulnerable male with an in-your-face attitude. Actor Rakesh Galebhe was so shocked upon reading the script that he wished nobody like them existed in the real world. He vividly remembers a sequence where he evokes myriad emotions in a 45-second span.

With DI done at Annapurna Studios and sound design done at Sync Cinema, the film is produced by ChitrOM Entertainments and S Originals.