SV Krishna Reddy's Dil Se...

Krishna Reddy has many subjects to talk about and when he speaks his words range from simple to profound. If you have watched Krishna Reddy's films you would notice the portraits of some real women, with real emotions and concerns. Yet again, his approach is analytical, and where there are unanswered questions or conflicting thoughts, he carefully examines the possible arguments to aid the third person in drawing his or her own conclusions. A Parisian once said "Men love women, as we all know, but actually they prefer girls, by which I mean daughters. Perhaps this is the crux of love, these father-daughter relationships that transcend tenderness and affection, in which admiration, too, transcends objectivity." We've read about Asin's engaging account of how her father saved her life and here we have Krishna Reddy speaking with his signature wit and warmth, turning an ordinary experience into a thought provoking story...What could be sweeter than the relationship between a daddy and his little girl? SVK talks of hurting his daughter Sudha and wishes never to scream at her again

Y. Sunita Chowdhary

Those were the days when I was directing Gunshot. I was traveling in my Maruti 800 with my daughter. Sudha was around six years old and was sitting behind. She got into the car and I shut the door. I didn't notice that I pushed it against her little fingers. She screamed her guts out and I immediately pulled her out sensing something had seriously gone wrong. She wrapped her palm around it and was crying inconsolably. Luckily nothing had happened, her hand turned colour and some marks were visible on it. We rushed for a damp cloth and immediately wrapped it around. Lifting her, consoling and giving her first aid should have been my first reaction but I realized later that all I did was to yell at her and ask her why she did it. I wanted her to stop crying and told her to be careful next time. The mark on her finger faded and so did the incident from my memory.

Two years passed by. I was in Chennai. I was stressed out with releasing No 1 and eventually all the prints had gone. Sudha was in the village and I was missing her terribly. It had been a long time and there was this yearning to reach her fast. The distance to be travelled was 65km and nothing mattered...all I had in my mind was my small girl and nothing could distract me. I got into the ambassador car and it was the driver's turn to shut the door on my hand. While the driver kept apologizing, I was reminded about the incident that took place two years ago. The wound I inflicted on her became fresh.

I recapitulated each and every moment that Sudha had gone through and I could feel the pain. It was a strange feeling...remorse, regret, guilt, anguish, pain, anger, disgust, a mix of all emotions. I was ashamed, I didn't let the pain go, I wanted to feel it till I reached the village, till I got a glimpse of my little one. It was the first time I found the pain to be sweet too. I was also enjoying it. I thought it was a punishment and I had to atone for it. It was not a grave injury but a small one. The situation and the way we both got hurt was identical but only such a tiny tot could have been blessed with so much fortitude to bear it. The moment I saw her I hugged her and narrated the incident. I finally asked her as to how she bore the pain.....she didn't tell me, she was too engrossed playing. The guilt doesn't leave me still!

Other Dil Se.. articles:
• Krishna
• Asin
• Muruga Doss
• Manodu Ram
• Peter Hein