How did Vennela happen to you?
I was working as a QA manager in a software company in USA when I came to know about that Deva Katta was planning to a Telugu film in USA. I was interested in direction at that time and contacted him for the post of assistant director. He said that I need to work with him for 3 months for that position. I was not in a good financial position and my employee could not give leave for more than a month. I resigned and joined him. After working for few days, Deva told me that he liked my mannerism and body languages and it would suit the role of Khadir in Vennela. That is how Vennela happened to me.

How was the response for your work in Vennela?
I did not realize the impact of the response till I visited India for the 50 days function of the movie. People started recognizing me and started telling my dialogues in the movie. There are 3-4 orkut communities for Khadir characters and one such community has around 400 members.

Why did you not jump into Tollywood bandwagon?
For me job was very important. Murugadoss called me and asked me for 3-months bulk dates for Stalin film. They also enquired for AMAV and Annavaram film. When I recently met Bommarillu Bhaskar, he said that he enquired about me for Allu Arjun’s friend character in Parugu film. But job was important for me. Hence I was forced to stay away.

What brought you back to Telugu film industry?
I was always passionate about movies – acting and scripting. But I had to stay away due to financial constraints. I have an understanding wife now and she gave me assurance. I am back in Hyderabad in May this year to pursue my passion.

How did you get Indumathi offer?
My friend Ravi Varma (Vennela fame) said that Harsha Reddy was looking for my number. When I approached Harsha Reddy, he immediately took me in. Indumathi is a thriller and I had an opportunity to try comedy in scenes where there is horrifying atmosphere. Harsha gave me lot of space and I hope that he would get satisfied with my final output.

Did you accept any other films?
I am going to work in a film that introduces Suman Pathuri as director. Raja will do the main lead. I got a full-fledged role in that film. I also signed Sushant’s latest film Current.

What happened to your directorial ambitions?
I am very interested in script work as well. I am assisting Suman in screenplay of his film. Deva Katta told me that I have good writing skills. I am an avid reader of fiction. I penned a story when I was in USA and got it narrated to Surya (Tamil hero) as I thought it would do well in Tamil. He liked the story, but felt that it lacks certain elements which his fans look for. He asked for a few changes in the script. I am going to do that story into a film someday.

How did hone your directorial skills?
Reading fiction helped a lot to be imaginative. Literary works make us to pay attention to the minutest details. I picked up lot of stuff about directing and writing by surfing internet. I use Citrix software to write screenplay.

How to get in touch with you for the producers/directors who want to cast you?
My phone number is 99635 81298 and my orkut profile is ‘Kishore Bokkala’

Other Interviews
• Harsha Reddy (Director n producer)
• Bindu Madhavi (Actress)
• Shweta Basu Prasad (Actress)
• Dil Raju (Actor)
• Santhi Chandra (Actor)
• Teja (Director n producer)
• Jeevi (Critic)
• Lakshmikanth Chenna (Director)
• Manoj Manchu (Actor)
• Ajay Sastri (Director)
• Sekhar Kmmula (Producer)
• Ravi Krishna (Actor)
• Sunitha (Playback singer)
• VN Aditya (Diector & Producer)
• Nallamalupu Bujji (Producer)
• Uday Kiran (Actor)
• Chandra Sekhar (Actor)
• Raahul (Actor)
• Dil Raju (Producer)
• Gopichand (Actor)
• Siva (Souryam director)
• Venkatesh (Actor)
• Mamata Mohandas (Actress)
• Lakshmi Lahari (Actress)
• Ramesh Varma (Director)
• Samudra (Director)
• Yogesh (Director)
• Neha Thota (Child actress)
• Srinivas Avasarala (Actor)
• Uday Kiran (Actor)
• Kanmani (Director)
• Ram Gopal Varma (Director)
• PG Vinda (Cinematographer)
• Madan (Director)
• Bhavana (Heroine)
• Bhargava (Producer)
• Hari Yelleti (Director)
• Krishnudu (Actor)
• Kishore Ganji (Producer)
• Ram Mohan (Producer)
• Salim Panda (Actor)
• Surekha Vani (Actress)
• Manjari Fadniz (Actress)
• Vishal (Actor)
• A Raja Sekhar (Director)
• Sridevi (Actress)
• Sayaji Shinde (Actor)
• Viswa Tej (Actor)
• Geetha Madhuri (Playback Singer)
• Namitha (Actress)
• Sneha Ullal (Actress)
• Prem Kumar Patra (Producer)
• GV Prakash (Music director)
• Mohana Krishna Indraganti (Director)
• Bharat (Child actor)
• Malini Dasari (Cinematographer)
• Rama Jogaiah Sastry (Lyricist)
• Venkat (Hero)
• Uday Kiran (Hero)
• Sharwanand (Hero)
• Ram (Hero)
• Aditi Sharma (Heroine)
• Nagur Babu (Mano) (Singer)
• Sekhar Suri (Director)
• Sindhu Menon (Heroine)
• Vinu Thomas (Music director)
• Nihal (Music director & Singer)
• Nitin (Hero)
• Smita (Pop singer)
• Sonal Chauhan (Actress)
• Raghu Kunche (Singer)
• Udaya Bhanu (Anchor)
• Meher Ramesh (Director)
• Rao Ramesh (Actor)
• Gopi Mohan (Writer)
• Ajay Sastri (Director)
• Vara Mullapudi (Director)
• Bhumika Chawla (Actress)
• Jagapati Babu (Actor)
• Vijay C Kumar (Cinematographer)
• Sekhar Kammula (Director)