Rajayogam deals with one such phase in the life of a mechanic’

Actor Sai Ronak, who is coming up with his upcoming film Rajayogam, takes us through his journey from his engineering life to his entertainment life, and also talks about his upcoming flick.

Amartya Smaran

Actor Sai Ronak who made a promising debut with Paathasala has been getting much-needed recognition for his subtle acting in films like Ante Sundaraniki, Odela Railway Station and #Bro.

The young actor made his debut while he was still an engineering student. After Paathasala, the young actor acted in a series of not-so-successful films like Guppedantha Prema, Lanka, and Kaadhali. After a brief hiatus of 2 years, he emerged victorious with Sujoi and Sushil Karampuri’s Pressure Cooker which was lauded by Minister K.T.R for its content.

In an exclusive interview with The Pioneer, ahead of the release of his upcoming movie Rajayogam, the engineer turned actor Sai Ronak takes us through his humble beginnings, how he held himself high during his stint with a series of flops, why the audience should watch Rajayogam and even discussed his most challenging role to date.

Just like the majority of actors, acting was not an entirely new venture that Sai Ronak had taken up. He says his affinity for acting had begun from a young age, but he even admitted that he was terribly shy to express his interest towards it. “The acting bug bit me when I was a kid. When I was in school, I’d do my bit by taking part in folk-theater plays.

Later, I learnt dancing and martial arts to attain additional skills, but I had no idea how to express my acting aspirations to anyone. When I was in engineering, I used to teach dance at a dance studio and one day I performed for my students. Coincidentally, Mahi V Raghav who directed my debut film titled Paathasala, who happened to see me perform, approached me and said why don’t you give acting a shot? You look really good. I was really apprehensive about making the leap and I remember telling him something like, “Let me think about it, I need to ask my mum for permission and stuff.” I was a final year engineering student and honestly, it was fun shooting because we shot at my college. I would write my exams and directly go to the shoot. So, that was a proud moment,” shared Ronak.

It is never easy for parents to come to terms with kids, especially when their interests lie in the field of art. In the case of our guest, the going got really difficult and the Pressure Cooker actor literally had to live in a dance studio to pursue his passion.

“After graduation, my parents expected me to go abroad. They wanted me to fly to Germany for higher studies. I was a really good student at college, so, at home they couldn’t wrap their heads around the thought of me entering films for full-time. It was understandable that they were worried, but there was a lot of resistance from home. Post Paathasala, I moved to a dance studio in Madhapur and worked there to make ends meet for sometime,” said the young actor.  

The Rajayogam actor looks back at the time when none of his films were working out at the box office, “The films that released after my debut didn’t perform well at the box office for various reasons. One of the main reasons why I signed up for those films was I needed to support myself financially. I decided to take a break from movies after a film called Kaadhali. Later, I put my dancing skills to use and founded HY Dance Studio, which thankfully is a great success and it helped me financially as well. When things don’t work out, one needs to pause and re-think about the path that they set out for themselves.

Dancing is extremely close to my heart, but the moment I got into films, dance disappeared from my life. However, when I established HY Dance Studios, I found the lost rhythm not only in the way I taught people but the fog around acting cleared up. Once I started working for films which were larger in scale like Odela Railway Station, #Bro, and Ante Sundaraniki, I learnt many valuable things by implementing what I had learned in my struggling period. Working on those projects taught me so much and I must say it was pure education. It was like paid tuition,” remarked the #Bro star.

Rajayogam which was initially slated for a theatrical release on December 9, has now been pushed to December 30, for a traffic free release at the box office.Talking about the film, the Rajayogam actor explained, “People around me always wanted to see me in a role that has mass elevations. They would ask me “Why don’t you act in a movie that has out and out commercial elements?”. I’d always think, why would anyone come and invest 4-5 crores on me and make a mass commercial movie? Until and unless you’re a star kid, no one is going to do that. However, Ram Ganapathi, a close confidant of mine who’s been observing me since a long time came up with a brilliant idea to paint this magnificent  film that is high on commercial elements. Right from the onset, we were clear that it’d be a tough task to make a traditional commercial film, but we chose ideas that would easily engage the audience. Rajayogam has all the funny elements, action sequences, romance, and above all a great story. Rajayogam translates to a phase in a person’s life where he/she gets to live life king size. This film deals with one such phase in the life of a mechanic. I am sure it’s going to be a fun ride for the audience. More than a mass commercial film, I’d put Rajayogam in the Rom-com category.”

Rajayogam is all set to release on December 30 and the Ante Sundaraniki actor has got a couple of interesting films like Popcorn and Circle in his pipeline. The dancer couldn’t contain his excitement talking about the former, “ I would definitely say Paathasala  was a special film, but I debuted at a young age. So, my talent was pretty raw and I was someone who was camera shy. The role in Paathasala required me to be that way.

So, it was kind of natural for me to be this introvert. You see, I was not in a position to figure out and explore my talent as an actor. Down the line, I enrolled myself in a couple of acting workshops to hone my skills. Out of all the films that I’ve been associated with, I’d say my upcoming film Popcorn is close to my heart for its intriguing subject matter.

We all want to work in a certain way, I think Popcorn enabled me to do that. The role that I am playing has extreme emotions and the entire film has been shot inside the confined space of a damaged lift. So, imagine how challenging it was for me to emote in the right manner. I really enjoyed shooting for Popcorn and I am looking forward to its release,” wrapped the budding star.