Film Arjun Reddy’s nationwide sensationalism has put its lead actor Vijay Deverakonda in the limelight. While some claim that success has changed him as a person, Vijay does not agree.
“I don’t know what others are thinking about me, but after the success of this film, my confidence level
is very high,” says Vijay. The actor further stated that he wasn’t answerable to people who formed stringent opinions. “When I said that Pelli Choopulu is going to be a super success, no one cared at that time, because I was a nobody. When I said the same for Arjun Reddy, people had their own opinions. Whenever I believe in a film, I talk about it and I will keep doing my work,” says Vijay.
Confirming that many filmmakers and brands were approaching him to act in their films and endorse them respectively, the actor shares, “Yes, I am getting calls from many places and they are pleading me to attend their shop opening or to endorse their brand. But I am not very interested as I only want to endorse what I like. To escape from them, I am quoting a high amount.”
Notably, rumour has it that Vijay has hiked his remuneration after Arjun Reddy’s triumph. Though the actor did not mention anything in this regard, a source in the know said that Vijay was now charging Rs 4 crore.
On the other hand, the 28-year-old is also occupied with his family life presently.
“I am currently busy with a lot of personal commitments. I have bought a new house, my brother has come down from the US and my film shootings keep me occupied, among other things, which I can’t reveal. Because of my busy schedule, I have been skipping gym since a few days,” reveals Vijay.
So, has success really changed him? “Every person keeps changing from time to time, so I change too. It keeps happening in the process of working with those films. When I worked for Arjun Reddy, I interacted with various people, read various books, interacted with the director and had a different philosophy everything slowly impacts you,” he says adding, “I keep trying to enjoy my work. The other thing is being honest which I believe gives you a long run,” he adds.
And not everything has come easily to this cinema buff. “It’s not that I got success just like that. I know how much I have worked for it. As a chubby, fat kid, I wanted to become an actor and I used to workout a lot. At that time, there was a fire in me as I wanted comfort in life. I wanted to change my lifestyle and worked extremely hard. Suddenly, now I have success, money, a home, a car and I am in a comfort zone. But my passion for fighting should never leave me and I keep trying to do more. I keep telling myself the same thing every day,” shares Vijay, who is currently busy shooting three films.
So what’s in store in the future? “I haven’t planned anything as I want to take film after film. I accept new projects when I like the story, otherwise I don’t sign them. I am getting hundreds of stories and there is no time to listen to them. I have to take a two-day break to finalise some more projects,” he says.
