‘A good performer will read between the lines’

In an exclusive chat with The Pioneer, actor Ananda Chakrapani discussed the role that parallel cinema played in shaping him into a natural actor and his National Award aspirations.

Amartya Smaran

Actor Ananda Chakrapani started his career with B. Narsing Rao’s Daasi in 1988. The actor’s performance was praised by the audience and critics alike. However, due to several reasons, Chakrapani couldn’t capitalise on the critical success of Daasi. After exactly 30 years, he starred in Raj R’s Mallesham, in which he played Priyadarshi’s father. The film opened to rave reviews, and Ananda Chakrapani’s life changed once and for all with the astronomical success of Mallesham. Today, he is one of the busiest character actors in the Telugu film industry.

Bookended by the triumph of Mallesham in 2019, the thespian went on to star in films such as World Famous Lover, V, Anaganaga O Athidhi, Vakeel Saab, Naandhi, Love Story, and Virata Parvam. Ahead of his Republic Day release titled Sindhooram, Ananda Chakrapani looks at the reasons why he couldn’t capitalise on the success of Daasi and imparts valuable knowledge on the craft of acting for the younger generation. He even discusses the role that parallel cinema played in shaping him into a natural actor and opens up about his National Award aspirations in this exclusive interview with The Pioneer.

“Daasi was an art house film produced for and telecasted on Doordarshan,” begins Ananda Chakrapani, adding, “Actors often don’t get recognition when movies aren’t released in theaters. What really matters is the viewership. Also, back then, the film industry was based in Chennai, and I had my fair share of financial problems. Therefore, I couldn’t venture out and try out for roles. Although a few films were shot in Hyderabad, the post-production always took place in Chennai. So, there was hardly any chance of getting an opportunity. And I didn’t have the financial backing, nor did I come from a film background. All these reasons pushed me into advertising.”

The Mallesham actor is known for bringing characters to life. His ability to appear casual and natural on the screen is perhaps one of the reasons for his success. In the world of acting, sometimes doing too much on camera could be quite dangerous, and doing too little will do no good. A good actor is one who understands the correct range of emotions for a character. The V actor says, “To appear natural on the screen, an actor must live in the character. That’s possible when the actor completely understands the character and lives in the role. To understand a particular character, either you must see it somewhere in real life or go through it in real life. There’s a difference between imagining something and actually experiencing it. The performance will always turn out to be natural if and when the actor shares similar experiences with the character. What an actor needs is observation. When you watch good films, such as art house films, you will pick the good things as an actor.”

Looking back at the films that shaped his understanding of the craft of acting, Chakrapani continues, “Since the very beginning, I used to watch a lot of art films directed by Satyajit Ray, Mrinal Sen, and Shyam Benegal. Their films were pretty close to reality. Even the actors like Shabana Azmi, Naseeruddin Shah, and Om Puri who participated in parallel cinema had a realistic approach to their characters. The subjects chosen by those filmmakers shared striking similarities with real-life incidents.”

“National Awards are handed out to the ones who excel as performers,” asserts the actor, talking about why it is so important for him to win the National Award, and he continues, “Not everyone can win a national award. There’s a benchmark for it, and I feel one should be able to reach that level of excellence. Winning a National Award is the highest honour that an actor can receive in the country. My aim is to meet such high standards and bag a National Award in my career.”

The Anaganaga O Athidhi performer thinks the future of Indian cinema is heading in the right direction. “With the rise of OTT content, the old wave of parallel cinema is slowly taking shape. We’re gradually stepping away from appreciating one kind of cinema. All thanks to OTT platforms for encouraging new-age content.”

He even pointed out the rise in film literacy rates, saying, “People are now exposed to different language films, and they’re vexed watching the same old stories. Life is so large that people can make wonderful films by picking up tiny conflicts. There are so many films being made on these engaging points. A film should be both entertaining and educational at the same time. The literacy levels of the audience have gone up over time. People will no longer accept films that don’t offer good content. I wouldn’t say it’s wrong to spend hundreds of crores on a film, but one must be cautious about the content produced. The purpose of films is to make the viewer think and add value to their life.”

Giving acting aspirants a piece of important advice on doing one’s homework and reading between the lines, he says, “All the finest actors do a lot of homework to play their parts. To cite an example, for Daasi, actress Archana spent time together with bonded women for a week to accurately portray the character of Daasi Kamalakshi. She was already a national award winner by then, but she never forgot to do her homework. That kind of homework will help performers to strip the character down to its bone. A good performer will read between the lines, understand the subtext and always bring something interesting to the table and improvise. I always do my homework and do what’s needed for the role. It is just not about reading the script. One must understand the meaning behind each situation and dialogue. If you understand the significance of the dialogue, it helps you emote well. An actor must add something to what’s already there in the script.”

Ananda Chakrapani will be next seen in Ravi Teja’s Tiger Nageswara Rao, Kalyan Ram’s Devil, and Getup Srinu’s Raju Yadav.

Gandhi Tata Chettu is another film that is gearing up for release in the coming months where the actor will be seen playing the titular role.

Talking about Sindhooram Chakrapani quips, “The film has come out really well. It is a message-oriented film and it’s visually appealing. I play a communist leader in the film. Usually, I’m the one who cries in every film, but here, I’m the one who’ll be making others cry(haha).”