Actor Nagarjuna has plenty of reasons to smile. With the twin engagements of his two sons, Chaitanya and Akhil, and his continuing success in the Telugu film industry, Nag is one content soul.
Talking about his sons he says, “I am very happy that they are marrying the people they fell in love with. Chaitanya’s engagement was originally not planned for January, but they decided that it would happen, just one month back. Akhil’s marriage may happen first, but I am not sure if there is any change in that plan.”
So, did Chaitanya and Samantha fall in love during the shoot of Manam? He laughs when he says he didn’t notice and adds, “Our scenes were shot separately, so I didn’t know about it. In the last few scenes, they probably behaved themselves because my father was there!”
Nag believes that his father planned everything beautifully. “All our family names are there in Manam, including Akhil’s fiancée’s name, Shriya. I believe that my father planned that also.”
Nagarjuna is one actor who comes up with different genres of films and roles. After delivering a mass entertainer Soggade Chinni Nayana, the actor has now chosen a devotional script Om Namo Venkatesaya which is releasing on February 10.
“When Raghavendra Rao garu approached me to do a film on Lord Venkateswara, my initial response was ‘what more can we do than Annamayya? But he asked me to go through the script and I really liked it. It is about a man who is in search of God,” reveals Nagarjuna.
The actor says that they found only limited information about Ram Baba. “J.K. Bharavi, the writer, went to many places to gather information but there were different stories everywhere. So we made a script with all the information that we got and added some imaginary characters too,” he shares.
Nagarjuna says that playing devotional characters has changed his thought process. “After Annamayya, I started speaking the ‘real’ Telugu, especially the pronunciation. People even called me for doing voiceovers for their films,” he says. Describing the impact of these roles on his life, the actor says, “I never do pooja or visit a temple, but those roles set some kind of discipline in me. The dialogues and songs have beautiful spiritual meanings and a sort of cleansing happens. I enjoy playing these roles a lot.”
Interestingly, all the actor’s devotional films have been with director K. Raghavendra Rao. “No one except him approaches me with devotional subject, that’s why I go with him,” says Nagarjuna.
So, will this film attract the youth? “It all depends on how we visually present the film. Today, people face stress, chaos and a lot of pressure and you can find the answers in this film. It’s a beautiful spiritual journey that everyone can relate to,” he says.
The actor confesses that “there is nothing much to learn from regular films, except Oopiri. During the shoot, I sat in the chair for hours and got so frustrated, but I realised all that we take for granted.” Talking about the reality show Meelo Evaru Koteeswarudu which he hosted, the actor recalls, “Those are real stories and some of them moved me.”
Nagarjuna says that he is satisfied with films. “My passion is films and making them. I started producing films recently and am enjoying the process. Business comes to me because of my friends, but I am more interested in films,” he reveals.
For now, he is gearing up for the horror film Raju Gari Gadhi 2 and then looking after the film careers of his two sons. “My first advice to Akhil is ‘Don’t look for an image’. We have a style of making films and we go in that way,” says Nag. He adds, “Akhil represents the younger generation and I want to get him into his niche and start his own trend.”
