Shooting 'Surya Vs Surya' at night was challenging: Karthik

Chennai, March 4, 2015: Cinematographer-turned-director Karthik Gattamneni says shooting his forthcoming Telugu directorial debut "Surya Vs Surya", mostly at night, was extremely challenging. "Out of the 45 days we spent on shooting the film, nearly 40 days were spent on night shoots. It was extremely challenging not just for me but for my actors as well. Most of them found this experience nerve-wrecking as it required them to shoot at odd hours in the night," Karthik told IANS. The reason the film was mostly shot at night because it's the story about a character, played by Nikhil Siddhartha, suffering from Porphyria, a rare disorder that stops production of haemoglobin. "The character can't face any natural source of light, including the sun. A lot of people mistook this film as a thriller, going by the trailer. The title here refers to the conflict between a character named Surya and the sun," he said. "It's also about the conflicts within the character Surya. Some of us have inner conflicts that we can't resolve or express. Along the course of the film, how does Surya overcome his inhibitions of life forms the crux," he added. He describes the film as a journey of self-exploration of a character suffering from the rare disease. Karthik's inspiration for the story came from a visit to a night school in Hyderabad. "On the facade of this college building, it was written -- day time earners, night time learners. I walked into the classroom and found people of all sections, age group and walks of the society. I thought what would happen if someone from an affluent family comes here to study," he said. "As I kept thinking, I decided to create a character who'd fit in this college. In order to place the character in such an environment, I designed him with the medical condition of Porphyria, said Karthik, who couldn't find a producer for three years for the project. Finally, luck favored him at the right time.