In a freewheeling chat, Nagarjuna answers several questions and gives out some interesting, unknown facts.
Why so much of gap after 'Manam'?
After Manam, I was into enjoying the success; I had been stressed before the release. We worked very hard to make it a classic hit because of my father’s presence. Then, I had to shoot for Meelo Evaru Kooteswarudu two seasons back to back. Then came Oopiri, which had to be postponed for 3 months as Shruti Hassan could not do it. Soggade Chinni Nayana was supposed to hit the screens for Dasara, but as Akhil’s movie was releasing, we pushed it to the next festival, Pongal.
You are doing dual role in Soggade. Hello Brothers was a blockbuster. Do you think the sentiment will work?
Initially, we did not think of me playing a dual role. Ram Mohan narrated the story to me for 30 mins.. I really liked it. It was originally the story of grandpa and grandson. As we thought there would be a lot of complications with respect to artistes, make-up and such things, we changed it to father and son story.
Initially, we had no idea of setting the film in village backdrop. It was an afterthought. We felt it has been long since such a film came. There are new visuals, new dialogue, new get-ups, everything is very new.
Is Ramu a shy guy?
No, my character is not shy, but studious; He doesn’t know anything else. He doesn’t take about how his clothes are, hair is, he has no ‘loka gnanam’. If such a person participates in MEK, he would be an utter flop. And yes, the character is inspired by a contestant of MEK; his name is Umakanth. His wife told me he is so studious.
How has the romance worked in the film?
Romance is there throughout. Bangarraju is a flirtatious zamindar, who looks always trim and smart. He doesn’t let any woman pass by without complimenting her. He doesn’t leave them without making them feel shy with his flirtation.
You, Naga Chaitanya and Akhil have posed with ‘pancha kattu’
My sons liked it a lot and suggested that they will pose wearing it with me. A unit member too suggested the same and we did it for an interview. It was all spontaneous. I saw my father in pancha kattu and always found him very charming in it. In his times, ANR panchalu became famous. What he tried in Dasara Bullodu, I tried it in President Gari Pellam. There are also nine jewels and a watch older than me.
How do you feel when you do romance with actresses who are in their 20s?
I don’t have any feelings. When I have wrong thoughts, then may be, I should feel odd about it. I am only acting.. I really get into the character. I may be physically old, but I am only 21 in my mind.. This is the reason why I get along very well with my directors who are much younger. I party with my sons and they are very comfortable.
Soggadde.. is releasing big-time.
I booked these theatres in November itself. I expected one more big film to release, apart from mine. I wanted to get the cream of the threatres. It is not the number that is important for me.. It’s the quality. Instead of going for 3 theatres in the same area, I went for one nice theatre. It was always supposed to be between 500 and 600 theatres. Manam was released in 600 theatres. But we will surely add more theatres in the second week. What collections we will miss in the first week, we will recoup in the second week.
Your releases have always been in December. Why January of late?
Pongal is a big time not just in Telugu, but also both TN and Karnataka. It’s nothing new to release in January. Nanna garu and NTR garu used to do it. Even in their time, it used to be 2-3 films for Pongal. I released Manmathudu in December because that year there were 3 films for Pongal.
Pongal has five holidays. All sections of audience prepare to watch at least two films regardless of the number of releases.
What is the snake’s role Soggade?
It has a key role.
Snake has a role in your personal life, too.
When my grandma was pregnant with Nanna garu, Naga Devata appeared in her dreams and asked her to name her son after Her. The tradition has continued since then in our family.
Tell us about the music
I should thank Anup Rubens for the excellent work he has done. When we came to know about the death of Anup's mother, we doubted if he can overcome the grief and work for the film as per the schedule. I contacted him after three days and told him I can understand the grief as I too have experienced it. I told him that work is worship
Did working with Ramya Krishna bring the memories of Annamayya?
It brought me the memories of Hello Brother (laughs aloud). Annamayya ante dandam pedata. (laughs again). Whatever romance was there between us in Hello Brother, we are sharing the same kind of romance in Soggadde as well. She is the same then and now.
Did Akhil’s disaster deject you?
Dejected? I could not come out of the shock for one full week! It was a total shock because Akhil was highly anticipated.. Right from the director, everyone worked very hard. VV Vinayak worked well in the way he could. Somewhere, the audience could not connect with the film.
Sometimes, one can’t explain why a film fails. Take for example my film, Chandralekha. It was a remake fil and Krishna Vamsi was in full form. I was in full form. But it flopped. Even today, I don’t understand why it flopped. When it is playing on TV, it gets very good ratings!
It is true that Akhil has to find his sensibilities. I had eight flops before Geethanjali happened. There was a time when I was made to act like Chiranjeevi garu and Balakrishna garu, because it is these two who had been reigning when I made my entry into films. Nearly seven films did not work until Geethanjali happened. I was in confusion as to why things were not working for me. After watching Mouna Ragam, I kept requesting Mani Ratnam garu for one month to make a film with me and this is how Geethanjali happened. It changed my career forever. In Akhari Poratam, I was made to play Sridevi's second fiddle. It was her film
I have asked Akhil to search for characters that suit his sensibilities. May be, audience do not want to see him in routine characters.
Are you going to do a film with K Raghavendar Rao?
He narrated to me a concept recently and I really liked it. It is about a disciple of Lord Venkateswara. But I will be able to take a call on it only after I am done with all my current assignments.There are plans to do a slick action flick.
Yes, there are. I am keen on it. Who will direct it, etc will be decided only after the script is ready.You had a surgery about ten years ago.Not many know about this. I had had a leg problem ever since my first film was being shot. A surgery had to be performed, but no expertise was available anywhere in the world. For twenty years, I lived with that. It was only ten years back that I had a specialised surgery in US. Body parts from another were transplanted to me. Now, I’m all right.
Tell us about the director..
He is a very good writer first. He has excellent command over drama; he can make the actors convey the feelings very well. He has very good command over the nativity.
What about Oopiri?
Oopiri is almost done. Just some five days of work is pending. We will release on a good date that suits both Telugu and Tamil.
How difficult was it to play the role?
I’m playing a totally paralyzed person here. Even the neck movement is very mild. It’s a full-on comedy. My relationship with Karthi is very funny. There is no revenge element or things like that. Even how I became a quadriplegic is not shown. It was very depressing to play the role (laughs). I had to be static and I would sometimes have ‘timmiri’ in my legs. One assistant director was assigned the work of observing only me. He would alert the director even if my finger moved a little. (laughs). It was very difficult as I’m used to tap my fingers whenever I talk.
