Deepak is one of the very few non- Telugu heroes in the Telugu film industry. He says, "Being from a joint family in Delhi, I was always dreaming of becoming a commercial pilot. But that did not workout and I had to settle for a degree in Architecture. And during this time modeling was a hobby and I took part in Gladrags Manhunt '98. I was judged the runner up and this was a boost in my confidence."

One of the special features in all his advertisements, "All the actresses that have acted opposite me in the advertisements were well known or became famous later on," says he. He further recalls, "I did a Godrej soap ad with Richa Pallod, a Fair & Lovely ad with Neha, who later had a good run in Bollywood. This was an added feature of the advertisements that I did as a model."

On a trip to Hyderabad for the shooting of an advertisement, he was spotted by Sana Yadireddy who was looking for a north Indian boy for the lead role in his movie Sampangi. "When I went to meet him, I was asked to give an audition. The next day he called me and said I was doing the film. I thought it was some sort of joke and they were trying to pull me leg," says Deepak with a smile. "But Sana Yadireddy and Sampangi will always be close to my heart, he introduced me into the Telugu industry and Sampangi was my break through into acting," he adds.

After doing three more films, Neethodu Kavali, Kannulu Moosina Nevvaye and Premalo Pavani Kalyan, Deepak moved to bollywood to try out his luck. After signing his first film Woh Tera Naam Tha, which had a mediocre run and contractually stopped him from taking up other films. "During that time I had lost a lot of good roles in Telugu. Hindi was never the priority as Telugu was giving me the kind of recognition that I was looking for," says the actor.

Talking about his current film (Bhadra with Ravi Teja as hero) in which he is doing a special role, he says, "It is not a guest role or a special role. I play a full-length character in the film; my character is the hero's friend and the brother of the heroine. He brings them together and in the end dies trying to protect them." And his take about doing multi starer films, "Multi starrers are never a problem if it is a well scripted role and the banner and script are good. Look at John Abraham in Hindi, most of his films are multi starrers but he is given due recognition as an artist because of the kind of roles that he chooses."

Looking back at his acting career he says, "I feel good if not great about myself and my career. The film industry has been good to me; I am doing my fifth film even though I do not have a filmy background. Even the audience has received me well in all my films till date. Even though the films were not commercially successful, my roles were received well."

Every actor has his strengths and weaknesses, so what are Deepak's strengths, "Well they have to be my confidence, my willingness to experiment with my looks and my hard work." He further adds, "I am looking forward to do more performance oriented roles. I prefer realistic films to fairy tales, not that fairy tales are bad. I feel more comfortable with roles that are true to life and realistic." Godfather is one of the films that he considers to be close to his heart and true to life.

Talking to his fans is something he does on a regular basis. "When people come up to me and call me Sampangi Deepak, it feels great. They try to converse in Hindi and English and when I answer in Telugu they are shocked and feel happy. People come to me and ask me to do more of Telugu films, it is great feeling to know that people appreciate you as an actor."

A question about his love life brings a smile to his face and the answer is quick, "I am still single (look out ladies), but right now there is nothing more important to me than my career. So there is no trouble with respect to importance to films, they rank number one on my priority list."

Before leaving he says, "I want to be known as a good artist and one who has done some good roles during his time. I want to work with good banners and earn fame even if it is not a hero role"

By Jeevi and Aditya

Other Interviews
Siddardh (Hero)
MS Raju (Producer)
Chiranjeevi (Hero)
Raj Nidimoru & Krishna DK (directors)
Allu Arjun (Hero)
Charmy (Heroine)