Wrapping up post-production work for his upcoming film Adda, actor Sushant Akkineni took off some time for a free-wheeling chat with the City Express. Talking about movies, family legacy and Tollywood in general, the actor however says that the pressure is equally immense on every actor, be it from the Akkineni family or anybody else.
Tryst with Adda
“Adda is a love story. It is a new concept that we have tried, but again the movie is not offbeat or not completely commercial. We have tried incorporating the best of both the sides. Everybody has a different connect to the word ‘adda’, and this movie also revolves around one such adda, or a hangout place. We had a huge adda set made for the film,” Sushant says. The movie is being made by a debutant director Sai Karthik, who is Puri Jagannadh’s script associate and Shanvi of Lovely fame plays the female lead. Anoop Rubens has composed music for it. “It is a very trendy film and so is its music and the dialogues are something, one will connect immediately,” he says.
The movie is slated for release in May. “We are currently in the post-production stage. I am dubbing for it now and soon will be off to Europe, to shoot for two songs. I have danced a lot in the movie and so did Shanvi. People will see a different side of her in this movie, compared to what they have seen in Lovely.” Happy with the script of the film, the actor says, “I am very lucky that I got this script. In fact, I believe that the script chose me and I felt it was written for me. Post the release, I am sure people will see that I am capable of doing different roles and will think I fit into better roles.”
The Akkineni tag
Though an engineer by profession, films was something that always interested Sushant. “I am engineer and I have a Bachelors degree in electronics. I even had a job back at the US, but then my heart wasn’t there. I quit my job and came back to start acting,” he informs. “There were times when I would drive two hours to Chicago to catch a Telugu movie with friends. I loved films so much,” he says.
Coming from the Akkineni family, which is so deeply rooted in movies did help him get a launch and the right opportunity. “I think in comparison to other people, I got an easy launch. But, at the end of it, audience will decide what they like. If you have to prove yourself, you got to compete and be different. This was something my uncle always told me,” he mentions. Sushant and Naga Chaitanya attended a four-month training course at the Creating Characters acting training school in Mumbai. So, will he be willing to work in a movie with his uncle or cousins? “Definitely. If there is any such script, I would love to work on it. When Chaitanya and I were doing the film course, we had a few scenes to enact and we would end up laughing, because we knew each other so well,” he laughs.
Experiments and Tollywood
Sushant says that audience in Tollywood now have become smart about their choice of films. “People now have started watching movies to make it an experience and just not for entertainment. Though many directors are trying to experiment with their scripts and use different equipment during the course of shooting, end of the day bits of commercial elements should be a part of the movie. Movies have become a medium, but people still want to go back home happy after watching a film,” he says. “I would not mind doing a script that is not purely commercial. But, at the same time it also involves some risk,” he signs off.