Actors are known to go to any lengths to get under the skin of their characters. And Naveen Chandra is one such actor, who has pushed the envelope to play his role to perfection. Naveen, who is playing a construction labourer in Sivappu, decided to learn the ropes of the job by literally working as a labourer on a building site. And that too, by going incognito, so that he would get no special treatment.
So why did he make such a move ? Speaking to CE, Naveen discloses, “In real life I am not a labourer and I have lived a normal middle class life. So the only way I could get a real insight into their lives was by observing them at close quarters.”
Taking the ‘close quarters’ angle very seriously, Naveen contacted a builder friend and got permission to live on and learn the job on one of his construction sites in Hyderabad. How was the experience? “Since no one knew who I was, they treated me just like others. I lived incognito as a labourer for several days, mixing cement, carrying loads, learned the job and earned my wages. I shared the labour quarters, sleeping under the unbearably hot sheds with asbestos roofing, with no fan and lots of mosquitoes. I used to smoke their bidis, eat chilli rice and learn their body language. I even wore the same work clothes without washing for six days at a stretch, just to be like them!” Even director Satyasiva was unaware of Naveen’s stint as a labourer, till later. So when the camera rolled under Madhu Ambat’s watchful eyes, Naveen was confident of giving a realistic performance for this raw film. It’s no wonder he says, “This role will be a good professional benchmark in my career.”
The actor is now off to Puducherry to shoot the last song of Sivappu, which will be choreographed by Dinesh master, with music by Raghunandan of Neerparavai fame. “Its going to be my first full length kuthu paattu so I’m excited. Earlier, I had done only pop and rock numbers on screen in Telugu.” But he’s unfazed by the challenge for he’s a dancer who has learnt 18 forms of semi classical and modern dance forms. “I used to train students in dance in Bellary during my college days,” he signs off.
