NAGARJUNA'S OLD INTERVIEW
Posted by for the society | Posted in | Posted on 00:41
Akkineni Nagarjuna walks in, lithe and vigilant, a slimman with a ready smile, eyes alight with intelligent curiosity. The Telugusuperstar with intense looks, warm chocolate eyes and the killer lopsided grin.I brace myself for the impact as the leading South Indian actor known as muchfor launching directors as for his loverboy image, greets me. He actually looksslimmer and fitter than when I met him seven years ago; I tell him that. Veryhelpfully and rather seriously, he divulges his secret, “It’s allabout discipline; you just need to ensure you give yourself one hour every day,that’s all. I take calls while I walk or watch movies while I’m onmy treadmill,” he confides. Honest and helpful too, I conclude.
We are in his office room in Annapoorna Studios in Hyderabad, wherea picturesque window brings in daylight and a whiff of nature. He settlescomfortably on his sink-in sofa for our chat.
When you sit with asuperstar who is the son of another legend (Akkineni Nageswara Rao), you expectattitude and a bristly impatience; what I encounter is a total lack of superstarnakhras and a down-to-earth attitude. “Dad kept life very normal for us.He ensured we worked for whatever we got. We would regularly be sent to ourvillage Denduluru to connect with our origins. When I wanted my own car to driveto college, he insisted I go by the local bus. In retrospect, I must admit Imade all my friends in those bus rides, some of them are with me tilltoday!”
Nag, as he is lovingly called, tries to inculcate thesame discipline in his sons, Nag Chaitanya (already two movies old) and Akhil.“I think focus is the greatest discipline. Work hard, and when you party,party hard!” Does he party hard? “Of course I do,” he smiles.I’ve just returned from Goa where I went on a holiday with friends.”As if to prove a point, Nemesis strikes at that point and Nag receives a phonecall that has him squirming a bit. “Raghu, my trainer,” Nag grinssheepishly, “He wants to know when I’m available for training,having skipped four days in Goa!”
Nag is one of the few SouthIndian stars who made a name in Bollywood too; why then did he not considersettling there when his movies like Shiva, Khuda Gawah, Criminal, Zakhm, etcbecame box-office hits? “After the success of Shiva, I realised I had tomake the choice. But let’s say I chose life over career. I was already asuperstar here. Maybe I might have become a superstar in Bollywood, but whatnext? Hollywood? There is no end to ambition. I decided I was quite content inHyderabad and I have never regretted that decision.”
Itwasn’t as if making it was a cakewalk for him in Tollywood, despite thepedigree. “Despite the huge success of my first film, Vikram, I felt I wasjust average; what followed were a few disastrous films and I knew I would godown the drain unless I did something drastic. Around this time I saw a movie byMani Ratnam and decided I wanted him to do my next film. I parked myself at hisdoor at 7 am and he then did Geetanjali with me. I knew I wanted a verydifferent look from the reigning stars of the time; no sequins or shiny clothesfor me. So in this movie the natural, no make-up look I portrayed became asensation. While shooting, I met Ram Gopal Varma who, appreciating what I waslooking for, narrated Shiva and we made a film with beautiful romance andamazing action.”
And this was the movie that put Nagarjunaright up there in 1989 and also the film that launched Ram Gopal Varma. Nagearned the reputation of a phenomenon, an actor who launched directors! Refusingto work with the tried and tested, he started trusting his gut instinct andalmost always, got it right. What followed was almost two decades of excellencewith awards and accolades pouring in. Lately however his films haven’tbeen doing so well, including the last Kedi. But Nag prefers to look at each lowas a lesson learnt and move on to the next venture. In his upcoming Telugu-Tamilmultilingual film Gaganam, he will be seen as an NSG commando; the storyrevolves around the Kandahar episode. This will be followed by another film, acomic-caper, with director Veeru Potla.
And, the reputation ofromantic hero, the sex symbol of T-wood? Nag blushes, “That constantlysurprises me; I really don’t know how that happened,” he demurs. Ok,so what about romance in real life? Here he is on surer ground and willinglyrecounts the story of how he wooed the love of his life, now wife AmalaAkkineni. Apparently he flew all the way to San Jose where he booked an entiresection of a restaurant to go down on his knees to Amala with champagne,flowers, ring, et al. Amala burst into tears and of course, accepted. Back tothe present, Nag admits, “Amala defined life for me; I now knew where togo. We are two fiercely independent people and yet we get along because we havea deep respect for each other. More than love, it is respect that keeps ourmarriage going. My first priority has always been peace at home. I don’tlike leaving home with an issue and when I’m away, I want to look forwardto going back home. When there is peace at home, you can work better, you feellike giving to others of yourself.”
With an indulgent look, Nagtalks of his wife, a dedicated animal activist, “Amala is very simple. Sheis so beautiful and she doesn't even know it. Do you know when we go scubadiving (a must family holiday once a year) she actually collects trash from thefloor of the ocean with a net and trash bag attached to her! We all pull herleg; she just smiles and carries on...” Nag laughs uproariously at thememory.
The love of food that led Nag to propose in a restaurant isalso responsible for his having attempted two restaurant ventures with partnerPritam Reddy. The first, Touch, was sold off at a huge profit when to hissurprise it became a rocking nightclub, and the other, N, is Hyderabad’smost rocking place these days, having won two Times Food Guide Awards recently.Other business ventures include a stake in Ma TV. He is also looking atexpanding his base in hospitality industry. Within a month all around thisoffice will be hectic activity when Nag begins revamping Annapoorna Studios tobuild his next dream venture, a state-of-the-art film studio. Talks are alsoheard about his making a multiplex and launching an actinginstitute.
A cock crows in the background, an unusual sound in astudio where many a blockbuster from Tollywood and Bollywood has been shot. No,Amala doesn’t have an animal shelter in there, I am reassured. We laugh atthe incongruity of the sound and decide to call it a day!
Comments (0)
Post a Comment