Victory is OURS: 2009

I have accepted life and I don't worry about the future or regret about the past – wearing a white sherwani as part of a shoot for a romantic duet with Mamatha Mohandas, Venkatesh looked just like the pure and spiritual person that he really is. In a candid and freewheeling chat, the star talked about Chintakayala Ravi, his other projects and his philosophy of life....read on to know more and also listen to the exclusive audio of the interview!!!

So are you all set to conquer the Dussera festive season this year?

Well, we have a nice festival season and I'm sure it should be a very good release for a film like Chintakayala Ravi with the holiday season coming up. We wish to cash in on the festival season and always it is very important for a film to get a very good release. So, this should be right for Chintakayala Ravi and once we get a good release, it has to go on the movie's credit. My earlier film Tulasi also released around the same time last year. We will release Chintakayala Ravi also around the same time.

Was that a conscious decision?

No, it was not. We were planning to release this film a couple months earlier, but then the US schedule got delayed and it is a month or two late.

Is it another love triangle?

Well, I can say it is a romantic love story but with lot of freshness in the characterization of Chintakayala Ravi. He has a lot of regular innocence in his character, but also a streak of craziness in the way he handles his life there in the States and also the responsibility in life and how he is not able to fulfill some of the wishes of his parents.

Very emotional?

It has that little touch of the emotional side, but of course the entertainment and the love thing are more. I can call it a romantic flick, but whether it is a love triangle and how the triangle goes, you have to see the movie.

Ravi Chintakayala – is that a satire on the first name culture in the US?

No, nothing like that. When they came and narrated the script to me, they had a different title, but during the narration, they said that my character's name was Chintakayala Ravi. I liked it and said we should have that title, but they were worried whether the big heroes would put such titles. I told them that it is really nice and a couple of days they were worried that I changed the title. But I think, it has caught on and the title has become really popular and they felt it was really fresh. Fortunately, I have been selecting some nice titles in the recent past and people have been liking them very much.

Just like you said...big heroes ilaanti titles pettukuntaaraa? Just like that, you are very comfortable with taking a joke on yourself on screen? Where does this ease come from?

I think that is the way we should live life. We will be more happier if we can take such jokes upon us. I believe you should not take life too seriously. You should be sincere to your work, but taking life too seriously is not good. Also, it has been 20 years in my film career, so you have to gracefully go to another level, you get an opportunity to make a little fun of your age or the kind of films you are doing. It gives the writers also a chance to write some fresh scenes if you can gracefully accept the way you have grown over the years in filmline. If the film demands, you should experiment in these kind of things. I wouldn't do it in some real macho films, but you need to be flexible.

You are one of the only heroes who accepts he is flexible...

Well, I think everybody has it in them, it just is a time. Once you let it happen in one or two films, you should not be bothered.

Tell us about your co-stars in the film...

This time it is Anushka and Mamatha Mohandas, both are a first time combination. I always think in romantic films, with a fresh pair, the scenes come out a little more fresh and little more different from your earlier films. But, I'm sure with a fresh pair, you tend to look at the pair on screen a little differently, so it was a decision from me to take two new girls who I have not acted with. There is some freshness and it is looking nice. The entire film is very nice, after a heavy film like Tulsi, I wanted to do something like this. Very entertaining and casual with a few heart touching scenes. Also, great music. We gave importance to the music and we have got some very cool tunes.

Why Vishal-Sekhar? Just for the variety factor?

No, for one, we wanted some fresh tunes and also I had worked with almost all the music directors in the recent past. Also, there have been a lot of instances in the past when Bollywood music directors worked for Telugu films. Vishal-Sekhar have studied Telugu music and they also follow lot of our music. Very easy working with them and they gave a touch of our Telugu feel, rap number, some Hindi words. Even the intro song is not like a regular hero intro song, but it is good. Also, Nahi Chodungaa was very catchy and I wanted them to keep it. Music has become universal, so all kinds of music is accepted as long as it is catchy.

You stated earlier that you are more like a director to your female co-stars. How true is that?

Am I a director? (laughs heartily) It is not like that, its just that I have always been introducing new girls and I like to see that they grow up and become successful actors. Maybe I tend to guide them a little and that goes a long way.

How was Yogi as a director?

I know Yogi for a couple of years now. We did try to work on something two years back, but it did not work out somehow. But I liked him, he was a nice human being and both me and my brother were very keen that we should give him a break. He has done a clean job and I'm sure he will get many more films after this.

Any memorable incidents during the shoot?

It was like one big group going to the US, we had traveled a lot to Europe and NZ, but this was like a 35-40 day shoot in the US. We were shooting in downtown New York, Manhattan Bridge, Brooklyn Bridge etc. Sometimes, the weather was so bad, it would be raining all around and we would be sitting below the bridges and eating our breakfast lunch. Traveling for 4-5 hours each day and all that was fun. Also, it was very nice to meet our Telugu people that we used to bump into at a mall, or a garden or someplace where we were shooting. Especially, lot of young students in and around New York. Whatever little time I got, I used to love spending it with them because I had a great time while studying in New York and I liked catching up with them about their lifestyles and education.

If you are a superstar you do not have to stop being a human being....this was what a fan said about you. Your take...

Everybody has their own perception about how a star lives and how he behaves and maybe I came across just like them. Because when I'm with them, I behave like a student and I want to know about their lives. I think this being a star is just a drama that we do every morning. I don't take this for real at all. I believe that there is something else that is real and the inside of me is pure. If you tap that inside of you, life is beautiful. I keep telling them that no matter what they want to achieve in the outside world, they have to balance it out with the search inside. That is the only thing that will be real finally, the rest is all going to come and go.

How do you strike a balance? You make intense commercial movies and you are such a philosophical person...

I think everyone realizes at some time in life what the real outside is. Depending on your keenness, you tend to search for the real truth and you realize it is not outside. I think I found that balance from sayings of all great masters. I have taken all their sayings into my heart rather than my mind and once it is there, we do not have to go after it. You just have to surrender and that is the final real achievement. The outside achievement is a farce. You do have to do the outside achievement as you are already here, there is nothing wrong in that but at the same pace you have to achieve it inside.

What is Venkatesh gaaru like outside the sets?

I'm very much a family man, spending a lot of time at home and enjoying the emotions of my kids. I keep my life very simple and my wants are not too many. I have accepted life and I don't worry about the future or regret about the past. Live the moment.

What next?

We have Srinu Vytla's film which is a home production and another one with Gamyam Krish. Scripts are being given final touches and we should hit the floors in November.

Two films at a time?

No, we should finish Krish's film by February and we will start Sreenu's around that time.

Krish is also very philosophical... so does your outlook match?

We did hit it off like that when he came to me first. He had also read the sayings of all the great masters.

So, will the script be like that too?

It will be real. But we will make a nice commercial film with a little philosophical touch here and there. My characterization will be very strong and it will be a lot about friendship.

Any idea of doing sequels?

Its taking a little time, but I'm open and very keen on doing Gharshana – 2 and surely an adventure film like Bobbili Raja.

One word to our readers...

Well, enjoy all the news and live life to the maximum, live the moment and all the very best to them!

link::::

http://www.123telugu.com/interviews/heros/V/Venkatesh/Interview_Venkatesh_hero19090812.html