Dongala Mutha (2011)

Interesting facts

Dongala Mutha is a 2011 Indian Telugu-language comedy action thriller film directed by Ram Gopal Varma. The film stars Ravi Teja, Charmy, Prakash Raj, Lakshmi Manchu, Sunil, Bramhanandam, Subbaraju and Supreeth Reddy. This film is the first of its kind in Indian cinema as it was shot with just 7 crew members and in a record of 5 days. Prior to filming, Varma announced that this film has no budget and that the cast and crew will not be taking remunerations until the film hits theaters.

Production

Normally, a film takes between 2–6 months to shoot, and more than 150 to 200 crew members will be working on it. However, the unique thing about this film is that this 90-minute-long feature film was completed in just 5 days from start to finish, with a crew of just 5 people, including Ram Gopal Varma. No one in this film was paid. It was made only with those actors and technicians who were excited to be a part of the project.

There was no generator, no lights, no equipment of any sort, including jibs, trolleys, etc., as the entire film was shot hand-held and in natural light. The pilot track for the sound was recorded by the cameras themselves.

The innovative challenge of using Canon cameras as opposed to the traditional movie cameras was first technically proved before shooting commenced by making a test print out of a few scenes shot that came out perfectly. Principal photography then started on 9 February 2011 and the entire shooting of Dongala Mutha was completed ahead of schedule.

Canon 5D cameras were used because they give excellent output with naked-eye quality without using any additional lights. It costs around ₹1.5 lakhs to buy each of these cameras. The film was wrapped up in a record four and a half days, earlier than the announced five days, and was released on 18 March.

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