From ‘Hey Ram’ and ‘Shawshank Redemption’ to ‘Mayabazar’, here are 5 films which inspired ‘HIT’ director Sailesh Kolanu

Before making his directorial debut with HIT, Sailesh Kolanu worked as an associate lecturer at the University of New South Wales (UNSW) in Sydney. The BITS Pilani graduate completed his PhD in Optometry and Vision Science and subsequently started teaching optics to undergraduate students at UNSW. During his tenure in Australia, Sailesh worked on screenplay and attended several seminars on ‘screen writings’ in the university’s art college.
Impressed by his writing style and short films, Nani agreed to bankroll the debut film of Sailesh titled HIT. Starring Vishwak Sen and Ruhani Sharma in lead roles, the film performed reasonably well at the box-office. If not for the coronavirus outbreak and the following lockdown, the moody suspense thriller which garnered rave reviews from critics could have raked in more moolah at the ticket counters.
During a recent interaction with E Times, Sailesh Kolanu listed the 5 films which inspired him to become a filmmaker. “Kamal sir’s Hey Ram, The Shawshank Redemption, Dalapathi, Mayabazar and Dark Knight are my all-time favourite films,” said the promising director. He also mentioned that the impeccable performances of SV Ranga Rao in Mayabazar and Heath Ledger in Dark Knight have created a lasting impression on him.
Crediting 'Hey Ram' as his encyclopedia of film making, Sailesh said “It’s the single piece that influenced me so much during a very young age that I knew I wanted to be in film making in some capacity.”
Along with the impressive performances of Vishwak Sen, Chaitanya Sagiraju and Murali Sharma, Sailesh’s riveting narration, V Manikandan’s brilliant cinematography and the pulsating background score by Vivek Sagar have helped HIT to emerge as a well-constructed thriller.