Nine-time National Award-winning film editor, A Sreekar Prasad believes editing is akin to sculpting

Nonika Singh

A film is made on the editing table…How often have you heard this refrain? Yet when it comes to assessing the work of film editors, most of us would draw a blank or use very basic terms to define it.

But as nine-time National Award winner, celebrated film editor A Sreekar Prasad took centrestage at a Master Class at the International Film Festival of India, Goa, many myths, as to what all editing entails, were dispelled. For one, the editor of magnum opus like RRR and PS1 revealed that the editor’s job is not merely to condense the length of the film.

Of course, to cut or not to cut is a dilemma every editor faces. But the prerequisites for the same are very different. “One has to be aware that cutting is for what purpose; whether the scene is redundant or that the performance is dropping.” Often, Prasad, who now gets involved at the screenplay stage, the process could even involve changing the narrative pattern of the film. For instance, in Prasanna Vithanag’s film With You, Without You, the director wanted a non-linear pattern. But later, in deference to the suspense element, which involved death of the heroine, it was dovetailed to make it linear.

Indeed, editing is dependent upon the genre of the film. Thrillers are often seen to be better edited. But the truth according to Prasad is, “Editing is akin to sculpting. Thus while editing certain scenes, director’s vision, whether he has used particular shots to symbolise something or create a metaphor, have to be kept in mind.”

Yes, editing is often meant to enhance the footage available to the editor. And here Prasad has a formula. He creates a timeline of sorts and keeps several takes of each action, and then zeroes down on the best take. Editing is often understood as a mere snip here and cut there, but Prasad shares, “It can be used to cover up a bad shot or bad performance too.” At times, as with Raavan, the rules of grammar have to be overlooked to capture the energy of a scene.

The Indian way

While different genres call for different set of rules Prasad admits that in star-driven projects, “To drive home the star quotient and to please their fan-following, certain scenes have to be exaggerated.” Indeed, there is an Indian way of editing, especially since our movies are largely verbose and songs are part of our film history.” But since cinema is essentially storytelling, luckily, now songs are used as a story-telling tool.

On the editing tool that he employs, he insists, “Software does not define your editing.” Nor does the platform, except for the fact that web series would require several intervals and hence many climatic highs. “Climax plays a great part in creating an impression and in Indian movies, with an interval, doubly so.” Nephew of the Telugu film doyen LV Prasad, Sreekar, who has edited movies in many languages, has a word of advice for film directors. “Know your target audience.”

On SS Rajamouli, with whom he has worked for the first time in RRR, he says, “He certainly ups his game with each new film and is likely to do even better next time.” The same, of course, can be said about Sreekar Prasad, whose contribution in making films what they are can never be undermined.

Eye for talent

Actors have been cast for different roles since the birth of cinema. But, the role of casting directors in Indian film industry is a new one. For this, the credit goes to Mukesh Chhabra, noted casting director. At IFFI, in a session, he spoke about how it was during the making of Gangs of Wasseypur, looking for actors for the Anurag Kashyap’s directorial, he realised the need for giving the job of casting a professional touch. On giving the right break, he says, “Whether it was Kai Po Che! or Laila Majnu, all the lead actors were newcomers.” The fact that all of them have found recognition is proof that Mukesh has some eye for talent.