|
18th
June 2005
How
do you feel about the hit talk Aparichitudu generated
on the day one?
I am feeling very glad that Aparichitudu got positive
talk in all 4 states (AP, Tamilnadu, Karnataka & Kerala)
it is released. This film is released with 425 prints all
over the world. It took one and half year to make Aparichitudu.
Compared
to your earlier films, this film has the biggest social message.
How do you feel about being a major part of it?
Though I have done many films, all the films talk about the
problems faced by protagonist at personal level. Only Dhool
(Sreeram in Telugu) had a little bit of social orientation.
But Aparichitudu is a full-scale film with social message.
While most of the social films talk about various social irresponsibility
of police, government, politician etc, this film talks about
social responsibilities common citizen tend to ignore. It
is like questioning ourselves about how true are we to our
society.
My
11 year old daughter felt that she should be more responsible
and understand the civic responsibilities better after watching
this film. I think, this film would leave a major impression
on kids about how good they need to behave in the society.
Don't
you think taking up a film based on 'Multiple Personality
Disorder' concept is risky in Indian context?
Yes. It is a pretty complex issue for making the masses understand
it. But director Shankar's enormous experience came in handy.
I would not have accepted this subject if somebody other than
Shankar were directing. Shankar explained the concept of MPD
in simple way by comparing it to how a drunkard behaves when
he is on.
Don't
you think first half of the film is bit boring?
We need to watch the film as complete product. We cannot cut
it into segments. The entire 1st half talks more about Ramu.
There is no heroism in Ramu as he is very timid guy. First
half of the film has to be dealt in that way in order for
the second half and climax to get the share of excitement
it deserves. Shankar could have inserted a bit of heroism
in Ramu character. But, then it would be the injustice to
the script. It was a deliberate attempt on the part of director
to make that 1st half that way.
There
seems to be lots of variations in body shape and body language
for the 3 characters - Ramu, Remo and Aparichitudu. How did
manage it?
We shot the Ramu part of the film first. Ramu has a bit of
lose body with a tiny pouch. Then we shot Remo character.
Remo character is a flamboyant guy with lot of westernization.
Then we shot the episodes involving Aparichitudu. That way
I could do the complete contrast between body shapes between
the 3 characters I donned.
What
about the interrogation scene in which you transforms effortlessly
from Ramu character to Aparichitudu? It involves showing you
with bare chest!
It took seven days to do it. I did the parts of Ramu first
with loose body and then exercised excessively for 3 days
to obtain muscles for Aparichitudu character. My co-star Prakash
Raj was amazed at the way my body altered in a span of 3 days.
What
about the climax shot? Did Aparichitudu disappear or not?
The climax shot of this film leaves something for imagination.
In one version, you can assume that Aparichitudu still exists
and he changed his modus-operandi so that police would not
arrest him. The second version is that there is another personality
Ramu has assumed to eradicate the socially irresponsible people.
Which
character is your favorite among the characters of Ramu, Remo
and Aparichitudu?
I really loved the flamboyant character of Remo. I even had
some domestic problems back home due to that character (giggles)!
What
are those domestic problems?
My daughter got jealous as my hair is lengthier than her.
The hair bands got mixed up with that of my wife and daughter.
I am sitting on hairstyling for more time than the ladies
in my home. It took me at least 2 hour to style my hair for
Remo character.
There
are complaints about the songs of the film that they are not
as good as the songs of Shankar's earlier films?
If you look at the songs, you find the first song to be dull
and the last to be extraordinary. The reason is that it is
a deliberate ploy. The song picturization blended with the
theme of the film. 1st song is about a shy guy called Ramu
who wants to express his love to a girl. If you observe it
closely, I appeared uncomfortable even to look straight into
camera as that character needs to be extremely shy about love.
If you look at the last song, Ramu sheds shyness and he is
happy. That's why Randaka song was such a hit.
Are
you the first choice for this film?
For this story, I was the first choice. But Shankar has approached
Rajnikant with altered storyline before fixing on me. That
film is about an honest cop who loathes the social evils and
civic irresponsibility. He could not do anything because they
are limitations of law about what a cop can do. Suddenly there
comes a murderer who starts killing all those bad guys the
cop hates. In the interval, hero comes to know that the murderer
is none but the split personality of the cop. Somehow, that
film was not materialized with Rajnikanth.
Tell
us about your latest film Mazaa?
This film is a remake of Malayalam film played by Mammootty.
This film is an out and out entertainer with village backdrop.
It is about a father and his two sons. The profession of this
family is robbing. The story of the film is about what happens
if one of the guys wants to leave that profession and become
a good citizen. This film is a comedy entertainer.
Why
did you choose such a regular commercial film after serious
social film like Aparichitudu?
I want to balance the things. I don't want to be typecast.
Senior heroes like Kamal Hassan and Rajnikant took the route
of different cinema and art films. Heroes like Rajnikant and
MGR followed the route of masses and did big commercial mass
films. I want to do the both follow my own route of all round
cinema. That is the reason why I deliberately chosen to do
Mazaa after Aparichitudu.
What
about your direct Telugu film?
I am going to do a direct Telugu with one of the top 3 Telugu
film directors very soon. This film would be launched in March
2006 and would be released on 15th August 2006. This film
would also be dubbed in Tamil by shooting comedy scenes separately
by Tamil comedians. This film is going to be mass, action
and commercial entertainer in a way Telugu audience want it
to be.
More
chitchats
Mohan Babu
KS Rama Rao
Dil Raju
Manyam Ramesh
Tarun
Raghu Babu
Krishna Vamsi
Posani Krishna
Murali
AS Ravi Kumar
Chowdary
Sravanthi Ravi
Kishore
MS Raju
AM Ratnam
Nagarjuna
Ram Gopal Varma 2
SS Rajamouli
Venkatesh
Mahesh Babu
Ram Gopal Varma
Vanisri
|
