Actor Venu Thottempudi, who recently made his comeback with the webseries Athidhi, speaks about its response, playing his character, working with producer Praveen Sattaru, and more.
PNS| HYDERABAD
Actor Venu Thottempudi, has recently made his comeback, which also marks his OTT debut with Athidhi, currently streaming on Disney plus Hotstar. This web series is directed by Bharat Vyji and produced under the banner of Random Frames Entertainment, and renowned director Praveen Sattaru acted as the show runner. The web series has received a mixed response. While some call it classy, other say that it lacks mass elements. However, Venu shares for him, it is a complete family entertainer. “It has comedy, suspense, drama and sentiment and less horror elements. That’s why the family can watch it comfortably together. I watched a lot of web series during the lock down time. At that time I also thought it would be good if I did a web series. As I thought, the executive producer of this web series said about “Athidhi ”. After that the script was sent to me. I liked the story of “Athidhi.” When Bharat came to me he said it would be good if you do this subject. When a new director came who believed in me, I thought to support his vision. The story is also very impressive. So I agreed to do this web series.”
Athidhi not only marks his OTT debut, but also it is for the first time that he had worked in the horror genre. Venu reveals that it was rigorous challenge for him to perform the character of Ravi Varma because, “He knows everything in this story. But he should behave like, he knows nothing. There should be a balance, not too much or too little. There are no such restrictions for other characters. For me, they tightened it like it was put in a box. When director Bharat brought this story to me, he said you should give settled performance. If my performance is good, credit should be given to Bharat.” Athidhi has been a web series where you can find limited character. Going ahead, the actor was all praises for Praveen Sattaru, and says, “He takes care of everything. They used to discuss with us. He did not come to the set but knew everything. He has put in a good effort for the Athidhi. I thoroughly enjoyed working in the project.
On a concluding note, the Ramachari actor shares that he has no desire to make films at speed in the second innings, and would work on a project with good subject. “I want to give my best as an actor because the story of my best performance as an actor is yet to be found. When we see some films of Nagarjuna’s Annamayya and Chiranjeevi films, we feel that we must do such a subject. I should’ve played the character of Sonu Sood in the film. But due to various reasons I could not do that project. Also I could not do Deshamuduru movie. But I don’t feel bad about missing some projects in my career. It’s an ocean with waves, sometimes even tsunamis. I am currently doing a project for Chai Bisket uneer the direction of a debutant director. It will be a very good project,” he signs off.
