After a successful stint in Tollywood, actor Bellamkonda Sreenivas is all set to woo us with his upcoming Bollywood debut Chatrapathi.
The Pioneer quickly interacted with the Alludu Seenu fame, who spoke about reuniting with director V.V Vinayak, speaking proper Hindi, and more.
SHIKHA DUGGAL
Carving his niche in Bollywood now is Bellamkonda Sreenivas — growing up in a household of a producer itself, it’s no wonder that Alludu Seenu fame was attracted to the arc lights from a young age. Leaving us impressed with his acting chops, Sreenivas will be seen dominating the screens so well with Chatrapathi because he says the output has come out tremendous.
The film is an original remake of SS Rajamouli’s 2005 Telugu film Chatrapathi, which starred Prabhas, and is now being remade in Hindi. So Sreenivas tells us, “Remembering the first day on the sets of Chatrapati always brings nostalgia. I am reuniting with the director, who launched me in the Tollywood industry back in 2005. He is the first mentor that I have had in the industry! On a humorous note, I requested him to re-launch me, and what a pleasant coincidence that he did. That shows his kindness.”
Sreenivas seems to be naturally funny, he hones his witty craft. He continued, “When the original was released, that left an impact on me. Especially the way Prabhas acted in it and owned the film! It’s like euphoria for me. Even when I go back home after shooting, I take the character with me.
Earlier I was a bit apprehensive of doing the remake of it but then I thought those who haven’t seen Prabhas doing Chatrapathi can now cherish me. And doing it in Hindi was not such a big deal for me. I was always familiar with the language, but it does sometimes get difficult to communicate because I am born and brought up in Telangana. Trust me, in my next project I’ll be speaking proper Hindi!”
On a cool Thursday evening, as we sat to chat more about his mass entertainer, we learned, “SS Rajamouli sir and my dad have been great friends ever since I was a child. He used to come over and encourage me to be a part of cinema like my father. And in fact, my director told me that SS Rajamouli used to look up to my director too. Well, recently I met Rohit Shetty sir also and even he was heaping praises about my current director. So that’s the enigma!”
The original was a turning point in Prabhas’ career. So will it be the same for Srinivas as well? Let’s find out! “I am waiting for the media to give me the reviews whether I have surpassed Prabhas or not. When I met Prabhas he called the comparisons to be very silly and enforced in me that I will be doing a better job than him. During 2005 Chatrapathi went underrated, it seems.”
The posters are sizzling too! His toned back is sure to get him ample compliments, but did he receive any? Like a very coy guy, he responds, “I hardly have any female friends (he laughed out loud). I am busy travelling to and fro from Mumbai to Hyderabad. I am not into too much of a ripped body, I eat everything and anything. I am like a pakka Hyderabadi in this! Yes, I workout every day but the challenge was maintaining this physique until the release. The pandemic brought a lot of sadness to me. Just after 2 days the lockdown happened! Now for the next 4 months, I had nothing to do and my friends around me were busy eating Paaya, Haleem, and Biryani. It’s only me who knows how I have resisted all of this! Luckily in the third lockdown, I was in Mumbai and I lived in the Versova area. It’s much easier to maintain your body in a city like Mumbai than in Hyderabad. Cuisine wise!”
A producer’s son, does he have his calculations always on: we were curious to know! So he said, “I always want my films to be celebrated. And I want my films to be only seen in big theatres. I am totally against my fans watching my movies on television screens, to be precise on OTT!
As an Indian, we only live for three things; cricket, cinema and politics. So all these three things should be gigantic in its scale! I have the same notion for others also. When a Zoya Akhtar or Raj Kumar Hirani is released I never see it on television but only in theatres. It will be surprising to know for my fans that from the time I have understood cinema, it’s always been Hindi cinema for me then Telugu cinema. Hindi cinema will go to every corner! We can’t deny it.
The section of society that feels languages don’t matter are obviously lying. And then if you are a producer’s son, you are only coming with setbacks in the industry. It’s not easy for a producer’s son to sustain himself in show business. We always have the pressure to prove to audiences that even a nepo kid can make it to the top! I have been witnessing this for so many days that when an outsider gives a small hit also it’s celebrated worldwide, if the same small hit is made by an industry insider there are so many critics ready for us. Hrithik Roshan and Tiger Shroff are the most hardworking nepokids we have!”
