It would be stupid of me to try and emulate my dad: Goutham

It’s incredible what working out for five hours a day, five times a week, for 140 days did to Goutham’s perception of himself. From being any regular 29-year-old guy who was conscious of his flabby 78-kg frame, the actor has transformed into a mean machine who isn’t shy of wearing just his body. “Oh, it feels great to have a ripped body, more so because I’ve never been this fit.I weigh 70.5 kg, mostly muscle. Looking at myself after working out, I feel good enough to face the world shirtless,” exclaims Goutham, settling down for a chat at a coffee lounge in Jubilee Hills.
“Mee cinema eppudu start avuthundi...?” (when will your film shoot start?) enquires the waiter while taking an order for green tea. “Next month,” Goutham replies, smiling. “I can’t wait to start shooting for it,” he adds excitedly, referring to his upcoming film Manu. When returning from a friend’s wedding in December last year, director Phani told Goutham that he’d have to go shirtless for a couple of scenes in the film. And that’s what motivated him to hit the gym.
“I started working out from December 15. We had a shoot on May 3 and I had to get in shape for it,” recalls Goutham, who’s gotten quite used to counting calories of his meals. Getting a handle over what you eat is the most difficult part of getting in shape, he reckons. “It’s only a shade easier than getting the lower abs toned. I’ve been on a low carb-high protein diet and haven’t eaten a single sweet dish all this while. For someone with a sweet tooth like me, it’s a lesson in giving up,” he remarks, with a smile.
Dad Brahmanandam though was just worried about his face. “‘Arrey, moham padayipothundi ra...’ (your face is losing its charm), dad would remark, after watching me shrink. But after he saw my pictures, he was super excited,” shares Goutham, who is playing a painter in the film tipped to be a psychological thriller.
“Manu is a very intriguing character. He lives two lives — a hotshot painter by the day who turns into a thief at night,” explains the actor, who is confident that this film would prove to be the elusive ‘hit.’ Box-office success has eluded him since making his debut as a 19-year-old back in 2004. “It was a dream debut for me. I was still in college then and was rubbing shoulders with the likes of Tanikella Bharani, MS Narayana, Sunil, Telangana Sakuntala and my dad. K Raghavendra Rao worked as the directorial supervisor,” he recalls. The film was an average grosser, but Goutham got noticed and more importantly, he met wife Jyotsna while working on the film — she is the daughter of the film’s cameraman, Srinivas Reddy. “We began seeing each other much later, we were just friends back then,” says Goutham.
Post his debut, Goutham took a break from showbiz to complete studies. He then went on to train under acting guru Satyanand in Vizag. Unfortunately, his next film, Vah re Vah, turned out to be a disaster. “That was a big mistake. But thanks to my last film Basanti, I managed to get noticed as a performer,” explains Goutham’s career seems nothing like his illustrious dad’s. But Goutham is happy living in the shadow of his great father, who became the first actor to have acted in over 1,000 films. “My dad came from nowhere and did it all himself. He is a phenomenon, and I would be stupid to try and emulate what he did. But hopefully, I will make him proud one day. For now, I’m just focussed on being the best that I can be,” he says, signing off.