‘Vaathi’ tries to address the issues in our education system: Venky Atluri

“Here in Tamil Nadu, you have a primary school, a middle school and then the higher secondary divisions. Whereas, in the Telugu-speaking states, we have Intermediate. So, the structure changes slightly,” he explains.

“Also, the Tamil version is slightly longer than the Telugu version. It is around two minutes more than the Telugu version.”

The film, produced jointly by Nagavamsi S and Sai Soujanya under Sithara Entertainments and Fortune Four Cinemas banners, deals with problems plaguing the education system in the country.

The D-mania is about to begin 😎#VaathiTrailer releasing on 𝐅𝐄𝐁 𝟖𝐭𝐡 💥@dhanushkraja #VenkyAtluri @iamsamyuktha_ @gvprakash @dopyuvraj @NavinNooli @vamsi84 #SaiSoujanya @adityamusic @SitharaEnts @Fortune4Cinemas @7screenstudio #SrikaraStudios#Vaathi pic.twitter.com/rSL6exfDx9

— Seven Screen Studio (@7screenstudio) February 6, 2023

‘Education isn’t business’

Venky Atluri wonders how many people know that education is supposed to be a service in our country and that it is supposed to be non-profitable. “Sadly, loopholes in the system have been exploited to the hilt and education has been turned into a flourishing business.”

Venky Atluri did his schooling in the late 1990s. Therefore, the story is set in the period between 1997 and 2000. “However, the situation then and the situation now is strikingly similar. Nothing much has changed,” he exclaims.

Point out to the director that Mahesh Babu’s Bharat Ane Nenu also raised the same issue and he quips: “That film had just made a passing reference to this fact. Our film will delve deep into this issue.”

#sir #vaathi @dhanushkraja @SitharaEnts #venkyatluri @adityamusic pic.twitter.com/ldSrHFZOvb

— G.V.Prakash Kumar (@gvprakash) February 6, 2023

‘Inspired by lockdown stories’

Venky Atluri says he got the idea for the film during the Covid lockdown in 2020. “It was during the lockdown in 2020 that this thought struck me. Some incidents that occurred there (Telugu states) got me thinking.”

Dhanush in a still from ‘Vaathi’. (Supplied)

Well, everybody was forced to stay at home. Students could only attend online classes. However, instead of reducing fees, schools hiked it. They collected bus fares even when school buses weren’t plying.

“Education is an emotional subject for people. Though unaffordable, parents want to give quality education to their children. They go to private institutions thinking that their wards will get a better education if they pay more money,” he pointed out.

As a result, a situation arose where enrolments in government schools considerably went down and private institutions witnessed long queues for admissions.

“However, government schools are not registering good results not because the government schoolteachers are incompetent. But because they are not paid properly. We have addressed this issue and yes, we have offered solutions to this problem through our film.”

1 crore and 70 lakh streams and listens for #vaathi audio on @Spotify @spotifyindia … thank you all for making it big … @dhanushkraja @SitharaEnts #venkyatluri @adityamusic pic.twitter.com/l6aY7vsRqg

— G.V.Prakash Kumar (@gvprakash) February 6, 2023

The cast

Vaathi/Sir will also feature Bharathiraja, Saikumar, Tanikella, Bharani, Samuthirakani, Thodapalli Madhu, Nara Srinivas, Bhammi Sai, Hyper Adi, Sha Ra, Ken Karunaas, Aadukalam Naren, Ilavarasu, Motta Rajendran, Hareesh Peradi, and Praveena.

Dhanush plays a Maths teacher and Samyuktha plays a biology teacher in Vaathi/Sir. Interestingly, National Award winner Samuthirakani, who is known to be passionate about providing free and quality education to kids, plays the antagonist in the flick.

Ask Venky Atluri about how this happened and he laughs. “When we approached Samuthirakani sir, he said: ‘I am an anti-establishment guy and you are asking me to play the establishment person?’. Nevertheless, he agreed to do this role because he liked the story. Moreover, he was willing to do anything for the cause of promoting education.”

GV Prakash composed the music for Vaathi/Sir. It is scheduled to hit the screens on 17 February.

Director Venky Atluri on narrating #Vaathi story to @dhanushkraja and his reply.

VAATHI AUDIO CARNIVAL #VaathiAudioLaunch pic.twitter.com/aAKsqRQsKL

— Mariyaan ᵏᵉᵛᶦⁿ (@KevinDBlood) February 4, 2023