Chiranjeevi: We tried to bring back my look from my ‘Gangleader’ and ‘Tagore’ in ‘Waltair Veerayya’ | Telugu Movie News

Konidela Siva Sankara Vara Prasad aka Megastar Chiranjeevi is not a new name that we need to introduce, he has starred in over 150 feature films in Telugu and some films in Hindi, Tamil, and Kannada. The talented actor who recently went on to win the Indian film personality of the year at the 53rd IFFI is now coming up with an action comedy film written and directed by Bobby aka KS Ravindra. Chiranjeevi is playing the titular role in it alongside Ravi Teja, Shruti Haasan and Catherine Tresa. The film’s music has been composed by Devi Sri Prasad with its cinematography by Arthur A. Wilson the film is scheduled to release on 13 Jan on Sankranthi. Etimes has reached out to the Telugu Megastar to discuss the film, his upcoming projects and much more. Below are the excerpts…!
Unlike every year, this time your film is slated to release on Sankranthi festival, why so?

Nothing like that, I wanted to come as usual but it is also the distributors and their theatre’s availability, the Producers’ concern and other reasons that made it come like this. I didn’t want to trouble anyone with my urgency, be it exhibitors or distributors. Moreover, I’m not in a hurry to break any box-office records by coming early, therefore no worries when it comes to all we need is it should entertain the people.
Earlier the government used to put red carpet for filmmakers who come with extra shows and even hiked the film ticket prices now everything seems to have changed. Could you please shed some knowledge on the situation right now?

All these decisions were taken depending on the time and changing situations by the respective governments, we don’t know what makes or made them take certain decisions, therefore I can’t comment on them. But being a citizen of a respective state we should follow them is all I can say.

You look very stylish in this film, and you seem to have taken a lot of care for your look this time, can you talk a little about it?

Yeah, we have worked on a couple of looks in these people. We tried to bring back my look from my ‘Gangleader’ and ‘Tagore’, and that is being noticed by many now. My daughter Sushmita has done the costumes and styling for this film and she has taken a little extra care for my look.

What is that keeping you going steadily and consistently for all these years?

No matter how many newer technologies come and new people come, I strictly stick to the fundamentals of filmmaking such as story, screenplay, its content and working on my character, and things. I can say only these things are making me go steadily like this, nothing else.

It’s been 6 years since you re-entered the film industry after a hiatus of 10 years due to your political career. What changes have you experienced in the Industry lately?

I haven’t come across any big changes in the Industry lately. But no.of vanity vans has increased on film sets compared to before and I feel it is a necessity today than before when everything is getting updated. I feel vanity vans are very important to all sorts of actors now, especially for ladies to change their costumes, use restrooms, for resting, and other purposes.

Why are you preferring to make more commercial cinema than some meaningful cinema with a social message?

I love commercial cinema, because I should only do what my fans and audience want me to do and would love to see me at least at the moment, maybe in future I may do other forms of cinema but at this juncture, I want to make only good commercial films.

We got to know that you Okayed this film ‘Waltair Veerayya’ script even before there was actor Ravi Teja’s role in it, now after his entry did your team rework its script or you just continued with the same locked one?

His entry only enhanced the character but we didn’t make any changes to the existing role/character. He too was a perfect person to play the role and he did cent percent justice to it.

We also exchanged each other’s dialogues in the film which you should witness in the theatre. I said his dialogue from his Idiot film and he said from my film…therefore there is lots of scope for entertainment in this.

You’ll remember me from my ‘Annayya’, ‘Shankardada MBBS’, and other such successful films. More than fights and songs, this film’s story and its emotional quotient motivated me to do this.

How was it working with young Sruthi Hassan beside you in the film?

My friend, legend Kamal Haasan’s daughter is a very good performer, and a great dancer, she just had a blast in this film. She was so quick with her Telugu lines and she even did great in a couple of fight scenes, Shruti is a good asset to this film.

Is it tough to get good scripts at this age and for your seniority and image?

Maybe or may not be, but it is always tough to get challenging scripts irrespective of your age, making sequels is one solution to overcome such issues. But again It depends on whom we are working with. Several newcomers are coming up with lots of wonderful subjects be it ‘Uppena’, ‘DJ Tillu’, ‘Arjun Reddy’, ‘Jaathi Ratnaalu’, and ‘Pelli choopulu’ all these films have tasted success due to their new storylines. Therefore, it depends on how we think and what sort of filmmakers we are working with. Remaking is another option to overcome such a content crisis and of course, I’m doing one more remake called ‘Vedhalam’ in my next.

Any plans to play roles that suit your age?

Actually playing roles of my age is very easy, such as the role in ‘Drishyam’ and similar films where all I had to do is tell the dialogue and go but playing this kind of role is very tough, I had to dance with tons of dancers who are half my age and fighters and do several other hardships, that is not the case with roles that you talk about.

I have been working hard in the hot sun, in mud, in salty ocean water, and other such hard locales but that’s what the audience loves us for. Else I would just do dialogue-oriented roles and take a rest.

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