Trivikram and the ‘A Aa’ controversy

By not revealing before its release that A Aa is based on Yaddanapudi Sulochana Rani's novel 'Meena' (which was adapted into a movie by débutante director Vijaya Nirmala in 1973), Trivikram Srinivas may not have committed a blasphemy, but he has not exactly covered himself in glory.  Although this most-respected writer-director has publicly given the writer her due post-release (he revealed that he had met his favorite novelist before launching the film to brief her about his intention to adapt her novel), Trivikram's explanation hasn't convinced many.  Speaking at the film's success meet the other day, Trivikram said that even though he wanted to put Yeddanapudi's name in the title, it wasn't possible due to certain technical difficulties.  The technical team worked on it for 48 hours and successfully inserted the novelist's name, Trivikram said.

By no stretch of imagination can it be said that Trivikram had intended to hide the name of the original creator of the story and pass off A Aa's story line as his own.  In the same breath, one must say that he should have staved off criticism by ensuring that Yeddanapudi's name was inserted in the titles from day one.

Remember that when Puri Jagannadh, Trivikram's contemporary and a star director like him, made Jyothi Lakshmi, he advertised it as based on the novel Mrs. Parankusham written by Malladi Venkata Krishnamurthy right from the day the film was launched.  Such behaviour is widely appreciated by the audience.