If you continue to be your director’s actor, you`ll never be unseccessful: Ram Charan on what T`wood taught him

RRR has made history with making its mark at several global platforms, and with this actor Ram Charan has turned to be synonymous with a magnum opus star. The actor opens up about the success of the film, desire to be a Hollywood actor, and more.

Shikha Duggal

With RRR winning global accolades — it’s confirmed now that Ram Charan is synonymous with a magnum opus star. He shattered all the records with just one film, and not just nationally. Breaking all the barriers, soon-to-be father, Ram conveyed, “I couldn’t hold back my eagerness to be at the Golden Globe Awards with my wife. Sixteen years in the film industry and I have never taken a break from films, not at any time. And, when I hear that my next project is with the maverick director S.S.Rajamouli—please, forget about taking a furlough. We couldn’t.”

For Ram Charan also, RRR was always a Telugu movie from the first day of the shoot and it was a well-laid plan — “My director wanted to blow up literally. He wanted this movie to be even more magnified than Baahubali. Again, he chose a concept that was way too amplifying in the most subtle manner. For a moment, it made me feel during some scenes of the film that I was actually a part of a celebratory movie of all time. Every passing day, he was astounding me with his creativity.”

The actor believes that while he put in all his efforts, it was also the directors and the producers, who had put out all their efforts and resources. The tryst didn’t end here, “I once wanted to decode his brain, I tried and failed miserably. Since then, I never even tried stirring the way he thinks about a film. As simple as he looks in his demeanor, he’s far more complicated when it comes to filmmaking franchise.” They were making a national film, and little did they know that it will cross the sea.

Not wanting to be a part of a film that’s aping the western concepts, Ram Charan was very clear, “We didn’t let the “feel” of the film go even if there were action sequences that were mind-boggling. We saw the final output with the Telugu audiences and it made me realise: my film is a blockbuster hit. All these years, Tollywood taught me that if you continue to be your director’s actor — you’ll never be unsuccessful.”

Praising the treasure that we trove internally, the actor also feels he was sure to be a part of the movie that screens have never showcased before. “My director never allows anyone to watch the film before the actual release — for the very first time, he moulded the rules for the leading cast. I never realised that I’ll be feeling hallucinatory while watching the film, because while shooting it: everything was going as per the commands.”

The ambition on the part of the actor was clear and so was his determination — “It was my second association with S.S.Rajamouli. We were watching RRR together once again early morning to check the amazing clarity. Our masks were up! I was wearing a cap. We were in the local theatre of Hyderabad. No idea, how did the fans recognised me and they went insane. In no second, the theatre was filled with confetti! I started interacting with each one of them and the clock was striking 5:30ish — told them how much do I miss watching my own films in local theatres like these and enjoy the celebration of my hard-work openly without being mobbed.”

Watching the sweep at Golden Globe Awards, Ram Charan couldn’t believe what just happened. He shared, “This was just the immense power of storytelling and music coming together. My fifteenth film is on the way and I want it to extensively reach out to the audiences like RRR did, should resonate across. Mostly, all my family members is into buisness — the stalwarts except my father but the historic run at the box office makes us continue to be a part of cinema. Initially, my father was tad-bit reactionary to every thing. He expected me to join buisness! And, there was I rather interested in being a topper in mechanical engineering. My dean witnessed how I was getting distracted due to films, my marks were lowering with every semester. It was my dean who coaxed my father to put me into acting school.”

Videos of audience members in different parts of the world dancing and trying the hook step of the song Naatu Naatu is going viral. Ram Charan also revealed he has a deeper knack for it too! He mentioned, “Because my father’s movies were all about dances and famous Telugu songs — he used to come and explain what goes in the making of such viral steps. I started replicating him. Without dancing, no celebration is complete so am I these days! Dance is injected into me now. I find it really bizzare when people shy away from it and goes “oh, I don’t know how to dance” and I feel it’s in our blood. How can you not shake a leg?”

RRR not just collected awards, it minted a lot of money too. And, the actor credits it all to his director. He expressed, “He made sure I internalize the character because the way he wrote the script was way too deep. We were not allowed to give loud expressions! This is what I like about the films I sign. There should be drama, there should be frizzling dance like Naatu Naatu, there should be intensity and now I want to be a Hollywood actor too.”

He had a point to make, “I don’t want to go to Hollywood to collect stardom. Have enough of it here. I want to see the exchange of culture and talent. Having said that, I have been proposed a mix of six films altogether and confirming that I am also turning older — I would like to only go ahead with two films a year.”