Akkineni Naga Chaitanya talks about his upcoming film Thandel, the challenges he faced while shooting, his biggest motivation, what his father Nagarjuna said about the film and so on…
suresh kavirayani
Naga Chaitanya is very confident about his upcoming film ‘Thandel’ which is releasing on February 7. Chandoo Mondeti is the director and this is the third time both are working together. “As an actor, budget and also everything this film is going to be, is special for me,” said Naga Chaitanya. His father Nagarjuna, Allu Aravind and a few others watched the film and they all are unanimously satisfied with it.
“When the story came to me, it was like a documentary. So, I told them to develop it as it needed to get the cinematic language.” After he came to know about the real incident and the love story, he got more interested about this subject.
“Actually I wanted to know more about the fishermen, and to transform for this role physically and mentally, I went to that locale near Srikakulam and spent time with them. I went to know their lifestyle and get my inputs. Once I got to know it, I convinced myself that I will carry this role,” said Chaitanya. With every cinema he wants to improve as an actor. “But this story is based on a real life story; so I decided to work hard.” For this role, it took a lot of time for him to change the outlook of his personality. “It almost took eight to nine months for my transformation and at the same time, the script work was also done.”
For Srikakulam accent, he had taken tuition classes. “I got an expert with Srikakulam accent and travelled with me throughout the shooting.” When asked about how his in-laws reacted to his accent, who are from Visakhapatnam, “After seeing the trailer, they were very happy,” said Naga Chaitanya.
“As an actor, I like the rooted emotions, completely, not commercially, where it can get close to the audience,” he said. Talking about director Chandoo, he said, he is a well-wisher. “This is the third film and I always feel happy to travel with him. He always thinks about myself and in fact I told Bunny Vasu (producer) about Chandoo that it was be good to work with him. Being an actor, this film definitely showed a new path to me.”
“The stories of prisoners in Pakistan are very emotional. People face emotional challenges at that time and those stories moved me,” said Chaitanya. About his co-star Sai Pallavi, he said he’s always happy to work with her. “It’s an emotional drama and the last half-an-hour is definitely the best in the film,” said the actor. “If you look at an honest love story there is some pain and you can see it in this film,” said Chaitanya. He added that this role is a challenging one for him.
“When they told me that ‘Thandel’ is the title, I too couldn’t understand. But after I met the real people, I came to know about it that it is the perfect title for the film,” he said. He added that at this time he needed a good film and this one will do better for him. The story is not about India and Pakistan patriotism, but it shows how the people were affected because of the differences between these countries.
“Any film’s success or failure does not depend on one person. If a film is successful, I believe it is team work and if this film tastes success, Sai Pallavi will also get an equal share. When my co-star is talented, my performance is also definitely elevated.” When asked about the biggest challenge he faced for this film, he said, “The Srikakulam accent”. There are a few physical challenges such as the action scenes and some other scenes shot on sea. “One boat collapsed and all the crew fell in water. In Kerala, the police arrested the unit cameraman and others and kept them at the police station,” said the actor.
This film is a special one and he was inspired by it a lot and so, he did it. Is he expecting any awards? “I didn’t think about the awards, but Aravind garu gave so much encouragement that he wanted to send this film for National Awards. Audience should accept this film. That’s my first thing and then think about other things after its release,” he said.
Chaitanya interacts with the real people and he spends time with them and even eats with them. “Yes, they cooked for me and I had food at their house and they too came to Hyderabad when we did our workshops. I cooked fish for them and meeting the real people always gave good vibes,” said Chaitanya. When asked about his favourite dish, he said, “Not one dish, I enjoy food and then give my review.”
Director Sandeep Vanga gave reference to Chaitanya’s costumes to his films. Do you have any designer or pick your own? “I don’t have a designer as I shop personally. Usually when I go on trips, I pick my own and even online I buy some. But Sobitha is into fashion. So, she picked up so many things for me without telling me,” said Chaitanya.
The actor said that he didn’t want to do any remakes of his father, but wanted to do a film like ‘Manmadhudu’. Now, re-releases are going to be a trend. On which of his films he wanted to re-release, he said, ‘Josh’.
