Actor Naga Chaitanya has returned from Tirumala after offering prayers at the sacred abode of Lord Venkateswara with his wife and actor Samantha Akkineni. “I’m agnostic and I got a chance to visit the temple as Samantha asked me to accompany her. She has embarked on a trek to the temple town along the Alipiri footpath,” he starts off the conversation.
The 32-year-old actor, who stole the hearts as Vikram in Premam (2016) is gearing up to steal hearts yet again as a vulnerable but intense Poorna in his upcoming film Majili.
“It’s quite a challenging role. He is someone who appears emotionally-battered, tries to find his own demons and is fierce in nature. One might fail several times before becoming successful. But failures make you stronger and wiser. Similarly, Majili charts the story of a youngster, who tries to get over this emotional upheaval and mend his heart for someone and something important in his life,” says Chay.
He does not stint on his excitement. “I enjoyed watching Shiva Nirvana’s Ninnu Kori and was moved by its climax. He went by the script and brought out the many layers of a love story in a mature fashion. His attention to detail was evident on screen. So I called on Shiva and asked if he has got any story on similar lines. He came with this script after two months and it took me 20 minutes to give my nod for the film,” he recalls.
Portions of the flashback show him as a cricketer and the actor says the inputs of his brother and actor Akhil Akkineni has made things easy for him. “I’m a novice in the sport and don’t know how to hold a cricket bat. I sought Akhil’s help and he gave me some cricketing tips. I also trained with Satish, a former Ranji cricketer to perfect my skills in the sport,” shares Chay.
Talking about how Sam came on board, he says, “I had no clue that Shiva will cast Sam opposite me. I was impressed with the way he fleshed out and styled the three lead characters – Poorna, Sravani and Anshu. While we were discussing who should play Sravani, it was Shiva who felt Sam would be appropriate for that role. As Sam and I are also looking forward to work in an honest film without worrying about commercial aspects, I had no qualms either.”
Getting the opportunity to work with his better half showing his trademark style of romance is something Chay treasures. “It is an intense story and each frame has something for the viewer. Sam and I play a couple and it shows a different perspective in a relationship. Since I knew Sam’s body language and working style, everything went on well. The climax sequence required a lot of effort as it was shot only on us. Shiva gave the scene papers well in advance and it helped us to pull off those scenes without any anxiety. Going forward, if we come across a story as novel as Majili, we will definitely do it,” explains the Shailaja Reddy actor.
Chay says that he gives complete freedom to his directors and declares that he is a secure actor. “I am a director’s actor. Once the script is locked, I never interfere in direction or impose on location changes. I always like the director to tell me while breathing life into a role. In Majili, Shiva was clear about how my character, Poorna would behave and look in each scene and I had no difficulty in playing a 19-year-old youngster and a married man,” reveals Chay.
The will next be seen in director Bobby’s Venky Mama wherein he shares screen space with his maternal uncle and actor Venkatesh. “It was fun to work with mama (Venkatesh) and he is really cool on sets. As an actor, it’s difficult to match up to his potential, especially after delivering a blockbuster with F2. I’m still trying to hold my own in that film. Besides this film, a project under Dil Raju’s production is in discussions and Bangarraju, a sequel to Soggade Chinni Nayana with dad (Nagarjuna) as the other lead is also in the pipeline. If everything goes as planned, Bangarraju will go on floors in August. I am trying to diversify my characters and want to do more honest films,” concludes Chay.
— Murali Krishna CH
muralikrishna.db@newindianexpress
@onlymurali