Background..

I have always been a back bench student since my school days. I never tried to get ranks even when I was in my college. I always had to put greatest efforts to acquire 35%. I was a bit inferior as all of my cousins were top rankers. I always wanted to prove every one in my family that I am the most successful person than any one in my family. These intentions made me choose a path which I can deal with and a career in which I can be successful. Both my dad Mr. Adivi Kanakaraju, and my mom Adivi Subba Ratnam are good writers. They wrote couple of novels. I think I have their influence on me, and that influence helped me to turn as a story teller. I would thank my dad who encouraged me when I told him that I was interested in film making. He was never against my interests; he funded me when I came to Hyderabad in search of my career. My mother is no more now but she always wished me to be on the top and those blessings are still working for me.

My passion for films ..

Passion for cinema brought me all the way from Kakinada to Hyderabad in 1999. When I was in college I was a great fan of Ram Gopal Varma and always wanted to work with him. I attempted many un successful attempts to meet him. I was very particular and choosey with the director I wanted to work with. One day an interview in Deccan Chronicle of Sekhar Kammula grabbed my attention. I felt he could be the right person to work with to acquire appropriate knowledge about film making. I met him and expressed my desire to assist him. He replied " no...we shall work together". This response made me wait 4 years for Anand to start.
 
Working with Sekhar Kammula..

Working with Sekhar Kammula was a wonderful experience. Proud to be part of both Anand and Happy days. I have learnt many things that a normal asst director will never be able to learn working with any body in the film industry. I was into direction department and production too. Not just me but all of us in the direction team were involved in direction, production, publicity, as well as releasing the film also and organising functions. All these experiences made me capable of dealing with many things which a normal asst director cannot do.

I think I learnt many sensitive techniques of subject making while interacting and speaking to Sekhar Kammula even before Anand was started. The period before Anand started helped me to interact with Sekhar closely as he was not busy and Dollar Dreams released just then. I used to meet him every weekend to share my thoughts with him. I believe these interactions with Sekhar educated me a lot more than working with him on the sets. Not that working on the sets didn’t help but my chitchats with Sekhar educated me more, when compared to me being on sets.
 
My strengths..

I always believed in one thing that common sense is the text book to learn anything in the universe, so using common sense I started making documentaries even before I worked for Anand. Conviction, hard work and honesty are my strengths. Six years as an asst director gave me strength to tell stories the way I would love to. Many of my friends and other asked me why did I chose why an unconventional story instead of regular love story or a family drama. My belief is that any story told with a passion and honesty will be successful (creatively).