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Ganesh Venkatraman is on a roll

Ganesh talks about his releases and reminisces about his interactions with Vinod Khanna in GOB.

Actor Ganesh Venkatraman has back-to-back Tamil releases this week — Inayathalam and 7 Naatkal. The actor is also happy that his long-pending film, Guns of Banaras, directed by Shekkhar Suri, a remake of Tamil flick Polladhavan, is hitting the marquee in August. Ganesh talks about his releases and reminisces about his interactions with Vinod Khanna in GOB.

“With social media ruling, people don’t really exercise their responsibilities, and there’s a rampant growth in crimes. I felt the problems need to be addressed, when director duo Shankar-Suresh narrated the subject of Inayathalam.”

On his preparations for the role of the undercover cop, he says, “He’s not the routine khaki-clad officer. He dresses more like someone working for a corporate office, with formal clothes like suits! We went and checked how the cybercrime division in Chennai works.”

Ganesh will be seen in a salt-n-pepper look in his upcoming film 7 Naatkal. “The movie, directed by debutant Gautham has an interesting plot and I play Prabhu sir’s adopted son. In the Malayalam film Kandhahar, I essayed Amitabh Bachchan’s son. I am lucky to work with veterans. The director wanted a different look as per the character’s demands.”

Talking about his Hindi debut Guns Of Banaras, Ganesh gets excited. “I reprise Daniel Balaji in B’town. It has Vetri Maaran sir’s screenplay and is directed by Shekkhar Suri. I was offered this role after the makers saw the Hindi version of Dhamarukam, in which I did a negative role. I have given my career’s best performance.”

Speaking about his experience sharing screen space with late Bollywood icon Vinod Khanna, he says, “I had the advantage of speaking Hindi and Tamil fluently, so I was able to mingle with everyone there. We would meet at breakfast, and he’d always be calm and spiritually-inclined.... he explained to me how Kasi became a holy city! He also used to talk about his earlier days when they shot their films at Chennai studios and recall his memories. He’d always talk about Kamal Haasan sir and Telugu actor Venkatesh sir as well.”

( Source : Deccan Chronicle. )
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