Jr NTR seems to have it all: A son who dotes on him, some good projects coming up and the undying support of his fans. the actor couldn’t really ask for more.
Now, with Janata Garage, his first movie in a long time, lined up for release on Thursday, the actor is confident about scoring a hat-trick with the project that ‘has a strong story’ and ‘would appeal to everyone’.
“Koratala Siva narrated the story two years back. I liked the story and wanted to do it, but I guess the time for the project came now, because I had to change my image through movies like Temper and Nannaku Prematho to finally suit the script of Janata Garage,” he says.
The actor also showers praises on the director. “Siva has done a fabulous job by casting big stars and technicians.” “Siva interacts with everyone. The movie has no star; the story itself is the star. He and I play out our roles equally, and no one dominates the script,” says Jr NTR.
About Mohanlal, he adds, “The happiest soul I have ever met, he is a person with immense knowledge. Though he is such a big star, I didn’t feel any distance between us and that must be why our chemistry worked out well in the film.”
My son, my life-changer
Over the last year, Jr NTR has changed a lot and the actor attributes it to his son Abhay Ram. “When my son was born, I spent a lot of time with him. I came to know a better side of me that I didn’t know till now. He is actually the biggest change in my life. When he grows up, he may not be as innocent as he is now, so I am spending as much quality time with him as I can right now,” says the actor, adding that the little boy is very naughty.
“Maybe it is in his genes! My mother would tell me about how hyper I was at his age,” he laughs, and adds that he still needs to keep his beard because Abhay doesn’t recognise him wihout it.
Carpe diem
Revealing that he has not planned anything about his future and doesn’t think about the past, a philosophical Jr NTR says, “I always live in the present. Every night my mother asks me what I want for breakfast the next morning, and I say that I can only tell her that when I wake up the next day. We don’t know what will happen tomorrow and don’t let those bother you. I don’t brood over past incidents.”
He adds that he doesn’t consider himself a saint: “I learn from my personal experiences and change myself. I am a happy man and my whole world is my films, my son and nothing else.”
Not comfortable with love stories
Asked why he didn’t do many love stories when he was young, he says, “I didn’t do such films when I was younger and now, as a father to a son, I am shy and feel tensed about love stories.”
He agrees that the world is changing and growing. “Telugu cinema is growing in the recent times. Look at the film Pellichoopulu, which, made with nearly '1 crore, collected more than '15 crore. Cinema, too, is slowly changing,” he says.
Will never do biopics
Interestingly, the actor says that he doesn’t want to do any biopic. “I don’t want to do a biopic. If there was one biopic I would do, it would be about my grandfather, the late NT Rama Rao. But his aura and charisma is completely different and I am no match for him. Even if someone approaches me with an interesting biopic script, I won’t ever do it,” says Jr NTR. However, he is interested in historic films and multi-starrers “provided the script is good and the director is impressive”.
