Thakur Anoop Singh, who won acclaim for his performance as a psycho in Rogue, returns to Tollywood with Naa Peru Surya – Naa Illu India which is set to release in Telugu, Tamil, Malayalam and Hindi on April 26. Directed by Vakkantham Vamsi, the actor plays a dreadful villain in the film which features Allu Arjun in the lead. “I play Sarath Kumar’s son Adi, a stylish, yet powerful villain in Naa Peru Surya. It’s a full-length role and is undoubtedly one of the best characters I’ve portrayed so far. I must say it’s not a normal villain and Vamsi has given equal importance to my character as it will also contribute a lot to the story. I’m confident that the audience will enjoy seeing me in action dominating Allu Arjun’s character.”
Anoop trained as a gymnast and went onto to win Mr. India (silver), Mr. Asia (bronze) and Mr. World (Gold) titles in Men’s Fitness Physique categories before dabbling with films. What he cherishes most is his working experience with Allu Arjun on Naa Peru Surya sets. “We’ve done gymnastic flips together on the sets. He was showing how he could do these things and vice-versa. We hit it off really well. As a person, he is calm, grounded and is an amazing dancer. He has been a good support. It gives you a high if a big star like him compliments you for your work. Money and fame are secondary, but such good words and encouragement means a lot to me.”
About working with director Vakkantham Vamsi, Anoop says, “Vamsi is an efficient director and he knows what he wants from everyone. He has a clear vision about each scene, how he wants to picturise it and its intensity.”Anoop, who has majorly played negative roles so far, is also craving an alternate identity. The 28-year-old actor is also making his Marathi debut as a hero with Bebhaan. “I have wrapped up the shoot and the post-production is underway. It’s an action-oriented action love story and will release in May. If everything goes as planned, the film will also be dubbed into Telugu.”
He also plays the protagonist in Kannada director Sunil Kumar Desai’s Udgharsha. “It’s a Telugu-Kannada bilingual and also has Sai Dhansika as the female lead. I’ve been shooting separately for Kannada and Telugu versions. It’s a challenging role which demands me to be a little subtle with my expressions. As I play a hero, I have been involved in everything and also attended a workshop. However, I didn’t go for a makeover and as usual appeared in my usual self in the film.”He also signed another Kannada film Yajamana starring Darshan. “I will be seen as the main villain in this film. The principal shooting will commence later this month.”
With his another Telugu film Achari America Yatra hitting the screens in March, Anoop will have a release every month until September. “It’s really exciting to have a release every month. After Achari America Yatra’s release in March, Naa Peru Surya is set for release on April 26. After this, I’ve Bebhaan in May followed by Udgharsha and Yajamana in August and September.”
Anoop was also signed on by producer Jayantilal Gada for his upcoming Hindi film starring Sunny Deol. “It’s a remake of Suriya’s actioner Si3 and as you can expect, I’m reprising Vittal Prasad’s role in the Hindi version. The film will go on floors in August. I’m also holding deliberations for another Bollywood film and hopefully, everything might fall into place soon.”
He shares a good bond with actor Ravi Teja too. “While I was shooting for Udgharsha in RFC, I went to meet Ravi Teja, who is shooting for one of his upcoming films in the next set. He was really warm and told me that he liked my performances in Rogue and other films.” The Mumbai lad makes it a point to dub for all his films himself. “It’s hard for me to let someone else dub my voice. So, I always dub for myself in all languages – Telugu, Tamil, Hindi, Marathi and Kannada. I go through my dialogue version a day before and memorise the lines,” he avers.
He also regrets not doing a romantic scene in his career so far. “I’m a huge fan of love stories and feel sad for not getting a chance to show my romantic side (laughs). Given a chance, I would love to play a powerful lover boy. Right now, I’m waiting for my films to release so that filmmakers can understand what am I capable of. The whole idea is to reach out to the audience from different States and thankfully, everything is working for me.” signs off Anoop.
muralikrishna.db@newindianexpress@onlymurali