Chip off the old block

Satya Prabhas Pinisetty is the eldest son of yesteryear director Ravi Raja Pinisetty.

While Satya’s younger brother Aadi is a popular actor in the Tamil and Telugu industries, Satya chose to become a director and has had a successful debut with the recent, Malupu.

“The film is actually based on a real incident that happened to my friends. Four of my friends met on December 31 and a small incident snowballed into something very big and changed their lives. I have taken the incident and added a certain cinematic formula.”

He also never thought he would one day become a director. “I didn’t want to follow in my father’s footsteps. I was a bright student and I completed my MBA and my father wanted me to settle in a job,” recalls Satya. He completed his MBA in 2002 and after two years he finally decided that he wanted to become a director.

“My father didn’t immediately agree as he wanted me to observe the industry for a few years. So I worked as an assistant director with a few people and then told my father that I was ready.”

He then joined a film institute in Los Angeles. While he was there, in 2008 he was also the only Indian student selected for a scholarship given our by panel behind the Oscar awards. “The panel that selects the Oscar nominees selects eight students from our institute for the scholarship. I was the only Indian selected that year,” says Satya.

“We used to interact with top personalities and they selected us purely on our work,” he says.

For Malupu, Satya had good advice from his father. “Once I completed my entire script, he didn’t get involved much,” he says. In the film, Satya’s brother Aadi plays lead while Mithun Chakraborty stars in a big role.

And after the film was complete, Mithun even asked Satya to direct the same film in Hindi with his son. “But I told him that I will come up with another script. I didn’t want to direct the same subject in another language because I can’t handle it properly,” he says. He adds that he wants to make a mark in the Telugu industry.

“I have a few innovative ideas like Malupu. I want to add commercial elements and project myself as a ‘different’ director,” he says.