The first thing that strikes you about actor Vennela Kishore is his humility and forthrightness. Kishore, a household name in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, having featured in over 30 Telugu films including Dookudu, Bindaas and Pilla Zamindar, displays a whole new side to him as he turns back to his college days.
Having pursued his BCom in Shadan Degree College, Hyderabad, Kishore moved to the United States and got his Master’s in Informatic Systems from Ferris State University, Michigan. “Generally, people rate their school days as the best but I would say that they were my worst. My best experience in life was when I did my Master’s. My college life was an unbelievable experience,” shares Kishore, who is popularly known as Vennela Kishore after his debut hit film Vennela in 2005.
Calm and soft-spoken, Kishore doesn’t talk much. The actor points out that he was like that even in college. “I was a total introvert and wouldn’t open up with people unless they were my best friends. I cannot mingle with strangers and I often get a panic attack in a crowd, something like Agoraphobia,” laughs the actor.
Even though his college experience was most memorable, Kishore confesses that he was not a very good student and did not get along very well with his teachers. “I hated my teachers and they hated me equally,” grins the 34-year-old.
When asked if it was because he was bad at academics or because of his behaviour, he says, “I was not very responsive and was slow at grasping what they said. Let’s just say that I wasn’t the sort of student they would introduce to anyone as their student.”
Despite that, Kishore is happy to have gone through his college life and would not trade it for anything else in the world. “In my entire life, my most memorable experience would be my college life in Ferris University. The friends I made are still my best friends and I don’t think I can ever move on from the University life there. I really wish I could go back and relive those moments,” he expresses passionately.
Most of us carry our college experiences forward and there are some incidents which we can never forget. The Tollywood actor is no different. “My most memorable moment in college was when I got a job in the college cafeteria. Being from a lower middle class family, it was really hard for me to pay my college fees and I was ecstatic when I got a job in the cafeteria. Somehow I would always consider that euphoria which I experienced as my most memorable moment,” he says.
Even as he had trouble moving on from college life, the actor feels his experience in college helped him in his career. “My college taught me how to behave with people, when to shut up and when to react. Whatever good qualities I have, I would give credit to my parents and my college,” explains the actor, who was last seen in NTR Junior’s latest blockbuster Temper.
Going forward, Kishore has a word of advice for young artists. “I would tell anybody who wishes to pursue a career in films or other forms of art, to first complete their education. Because otherwise they will not be able to survive if they don’t get work in their dream profession.” Kishore will next be seen in actor Allu Arjun’s Son of Sathyamurthy.
— suhas@newindianexpress.com