Ram Charan: My dad told me, 'I don't have a Chiranjeevi behind me. You have, so relax.'

Ram Charan has always respected his father immensely, but is his mother's favourite. At 30, Charan is not just less aggressive than he used to be, but is also mature and has found happiness in his relationship with his father Chiranjeevi. Charan grabbed the opportunity of the 60th birthday of the megastar, to celebrate his life as a star that he left eight years ago to join politics.As he makes his return to his first love cinema, Charan and his wife Upasna organised a mega party for the megastar ' a gesture that left him overwhelmed and proud. Excerpts from a conversation with Ram Charan, the son, who is also his father's biggest fan.
What makes you celebrate your father Chiranjeevi's 60th birthday in such a grand way? Unfortunately, being actors, we never celebrate our 30s, 40s and 60s, but my dad was so comfortable with that number and more than being his birthday, he has coincidentally also completed 35 years in the film business (though for the past eight years he was off screen as he was in politics). He wanted to get back and felt that this was the right time. I was trying to celebrate him and not the number 60 and in a way, because he is coming back to films, I wanted him to go through his life that he had forgotten, but which we all remember. So, I felt that he should have a dry run of his whole journey with his fans, family and friends before he starts shooting for his 150th film.
In an interview with us, your father had said that he didn't miss being in the industry as through you, he felt he was still there. Yes, I heard him tell someone that every scene Charan does, I think how will I do it. I make him hear every narration of mine. Suddenly, in between a narration, he will tell the writer, 'Why I am doing this?' And the writer gets totally confused whether to play along with him or to actually tell him that, 'sir this is written for your son and not you'. That's how involved he is.
Why do you want him to hear every narration of yours? The experience he has will not go waste and the connection he has with the `10 ticket buyer and the front benches is what I want to cater to. `300 ticket buyer is not the pulse of India. The guys who make you mass heroes are the guys who come back and I love being a mass hero.
He is returning to films. So will you now compete with him? There is no question of competition there, I am going to play along. I cannot play in front of him, nor can I be behind him, so I will be beside him.
Who is a better actor between the both of you? Obviously him. He has experienced more in life. Fortunately, we have a very smooth path laid out in front of us as he has wiped out all the thorns and pebbles from our path. He has seen life from a time that he would eat only water and rice to now when he has everything. He has seen so much in life that he can portray anything on celluloid.
Who is a better dancer between you both? My dad is, because dancing is not just about 1,2,3'1,2,3' it's about getting into the song, which werarely see. In Bollywood also I see only Hrithik Roshan and Salman Khan enjoying the song while dancing. For them, it's not about proving themselves as dancers. They actually enjoy the song. They enjoy the lyrics, they are not trying to prove themselves as the best. That is why when we talk about Hrithik we talk about his dance. While Salman is not a great dancer, we still love to see him dance as he enjoys it and that masti is what we want to see as an audience.
Talk about your relationship with your father... Every father and son have conflicts. When I was entering films, like any father he would guide me on how I should behave with my producers to spot boys. But there came a point when I told him, 'Dad let me do it my way.' That was the first time I had given it back to him and he left it. It's only when I became 24 that I actually realised and started following what he had told me at 21 and started doing things at 28 which he told me to do at 24. My dad always made sense. My dad was only wrong when I didn't understand him. Had I listened to him, my life would have been so much easier. There would have been lesser people having issues with me. For instance, at 20, I was young blood, very aggressive and wanted everything to be right. For me, everything was either black or white. My dad would always say, 'Calm yourself down. A little grey is good.' Due to my aggression, I lost a few friends and producers. My dad used to literally pat those guys who had backstabbed him. I never used to like it and would tell him, 'Why are you losing your character, for who, for a movie? Why are you compromising?' I used to think what will happen I will not have that one producer in my bag and never understood him. But today I am less aggressive. More and more people love me and I understand that it's not sacrifice but a beautiful compromise we do in our path to keep everybody together. I have become more accommodative and have learnt to work around it. It's like a husband-wife relationship. You can't say that I will not clean my room and this is the way I want to live. You will tell her I will clean it once a week but will clean it. Earlier, when I would not understand him, I would just go mum. Back answering was never an option for me as I have too much respect for my father. My mom was like a bridge between us; he would tell her, 'Ask him not to behave like this. Tell him to come and have lunch with me and sit and talk'. Today at 30, I am more happy with my relationship with him and have found peace with most of the things. I personally believe that if your relationship with your father is not the way it should be or the way you have imagined it to be, it has a ripple effect on many things in your life. Because I was not taking his help, I was becoming dark and angry.
What are his top qualities that you look up to? His dedication to work. I am so lazy and sometimes will go as late as 9 am to shoot. Dad is up at 5 am and his first shot happens till 7.15 till today. Throughout his career, I don't know how he did that. He is so disciplined even at 60. If I was 60 and in my dad's position, I would have relaxed and taken a backseat. He always tells me, 'I don't have a Chiranjeevi behind me. Bugger you have a Chiranjeevi behind you, so you relax.' Another quality of his is his commitment to his family. We have about 75 people in our family and for every member, the central point is my dad. I am not being able to be a focal point of even five members in my house and he is for 75. And the beauty is that he is not Hitler. It's his love that's keeping everyone intact, not his fear. And for that you need patience and tolerance, because each family member is in a different graph, so how you calm yourself down and let them be when they want to be, that's something I want to learn. And the other thing is that he is someone who never ventured out into any other business despite so many opportunites that came his way. He always said, 'I want to be just an actor.' And that's what I want to do eventually. I too want to get back just to being an actor and want to be No. 1.
Your father said that the best gift you and your wife Upasana can give him is a grandchild. Any plans of becoming a father? I love kids and would love to be a father, but right now it's not the right time. I don't know when it will be but I have yet not thought about it. I am just 30 and people don't even get married nowadays at 30. I am right now in only first gear. I will try and get onto fourth gear quickly.
Was he excited about his big brithday bash? He is very shy and was very restless a day before. He said to me, 'Charan, can you handle it? Will guests come at all or will no one show up? I am too shy to celebrate my birthday at this scale.' Till he was about 43 he would celebrate his birthday every year in Chola Sheraton Chennai that would be always booked for him. But since 43, he never celebrated his birthday. He would just go away with my mom to the farm.
There are so many actors in your family and you are all competing with each other. Don't you feel possesive about your father versus your cousins? Till I was 10 years, I didn't know I had only two siblings. I always thought I had 10 and that they were all my family. I feel happy that they own him, respect him and give him the due importance that you give to a guru. I am not worried about the bite they get out of the cake, their respect for him is enough. We have a healthy competition amongst ourselves. I try and do better than my cousin Arjun and he also does that.
Is your father going to do a cameo in your upcoming film RC9? Yes, he is doing a cameo in the end.
You have invited friends of your father from Bollywood. Salman Khan, and my dad did the Thums Up commerical together which is when I first met Salman. Since then my father and him have been friends. My father has very few people he parties with. His concept of partying was having two drinks and then going to sleep. But I have seen him party with Salman and only Salman can do that. Salman brings out that youth in my dad. He always says, 'Leave your dad with me in Mumbai for a week. He will become a new Chiranjeevi. I will rejuvenate him, before his 150th movie and he will look 10 years younger.' My father always says, 'If there is anybody who can make me party, it's Salman.' And that's why I wanted him to be here. Even though inside him my dad is always dancing 24 x 7, today I want him to freak out. Mr Amitabh Bachchan was not able to come but he has sent Mrs. Jaya Bachchan and Abhishek. I was very very keen to have two people on his party, one Amitabh Bachchan, who my father idolises and the other Salman, who he parties with. Salman is coming all the way just for a few hours to be with my father tonight. I told Salman, 'Thank you for coming. I love you.' I expected him to say, 'Charan I love you too,' but Salman being Salman he immediately said, 'I love your dad, Ram.'