For someone like Jagapathi Babu, or JB as he loves to be called, who enjoys living in the moment, the pandemic seems to have provided an opportunity to become a better version of himself. “I’d say pandemic was good; it gave me the time to explore and work on myself and spend time with the family,” JB reflects. By the time the pandemic struck, he had already started shooting for the film, Father Chitti Uma Karthik (FCUK). His role in it is a stark contrast to his usual baddie roles. The actor plays a condom company owner in the breezy entertainer, which revolves around four characters.
“I play Phani Bhupal, a widowed father who is trying to find a mother for his son, but ends up getting a sister,” he laughs, adding that the drama unfolds amid a comedy of errors. And he’s glad that director Vidyasagar Raju and producer K.L. Damodar Prasad brought this story to him. “The role doesn’t highlight the fact that becoming a dad in the 60’s (laughs) isn’t a bad thing, but the emphasis is on fun, my love story, my children’s love stories. FCUK is slated for a February 12 release, and JB feels the challenge will be to get the audience to the theatres.
Admitting that he’s not a mainstream star to carry the film on his shoulders, he says, “I don’t have an image and I don’t believe in the concept of having an image; I can do anything if I like the role.”
Expressing happiness over the growing number of his female fans, he quips, “I guess this film will only multiply that number. At one point I thought I’d lost my female fans. I am glad that I could get them all back during my second stint. I adore them.”
