In his last release Yevade Subramaniam, Nani was scaling the Himalayas in search of a mystical Doodh Kashi. Jenda Pai Kapiraju , a long-pending film that released at the same time, saw him sport a near tonsured look for one of two roles.
In contrast to these, the actor is playing a fun role in director Maruthi’s Bale Bale Magadivoy , releasing this Friday.
There’s a matter-of-fact honesty with which Nani talks. He doesn’t throw around adulatory adjectives while talking about a film or a colleague.
In fact, he discloses that he wanted to turn down director Maruthi’s offer, given his track record of risqué films. “I doubted if our sensibilities would match. I thought I’d politely turn down the offer. But when he started talking, I enjoyed the narration and was laughing all the way. I’ve never liked the idea of comedy tracks that have nothing to do with a story. This is a story where the guy’s problem of forgetfulness creates hilarious situations. I was impressed,” recalls Nani.
But the doubt about Maruthi’s brand of cinema remained. “I asked him about his previous films. He told me he took that line of approach to draw attention and establish himself and was keen to move away from that image,” reveals Nani. He learnt that Maruthi entered the industry armed with a 5D camera and Rs. 40 lakh to make his first film. “No one believed in him. From that situation, he made a name for himself.”
Bale Bale …, co-starring Lavanya Tripathi, was completed within seven months. Incidentally, Nani’s Eega and Lavanya’s debut film Andhala Rakshasi had the same producers. “The producer told us that a new actress is being launched in Andhala Rakshasi and the team will not reveal photographs until the film’s release. I was wondering what’s all this ‘build up’ about,” says Nani.
Now, having worked with Lavanya, he says, “She looks real, not a doll-like heroine. She was a morale booster on the sets. She laughs at the slightest joke. We’d enact funny sequences to see how she’d respond. She would laugh and we’d feel encouraged.”
Next, Nani will be seen in director Hanu Raghavapudi’s film followed by a project for his mentor Indraganti Mohanakrishna, who launched him in Ashta Chemma .
The period before the release of Yevade Subramaniam was a testing one, with Paisa and Aha Kalyanam not faring well. Nani was heartened to know he wasn’t judged by his last release. “On many days, I’d get four calls for script narrations from Telugu and Tamil industries. Eega was dubbed in Tamil and then I had done Sega . Till today, I get offers from new age directors for Tamil projects. I feel humbled; I don’t know what I did to deserve this respect,” he says.
What was I saying?
Nani plays an absent minded person who forgets the task he sets out for when he is intercepted with something else. “This guy might be on his way to visit someone admitted in a hospital and on the way, if he meets a friend, he will head for a movie and forget all about the hospital,” says Nani, and quips, “I enact a character close to myself.”
Of course, the actor states he isn’t “that forgetful” in real life. Recently his wife Anjana remarked on a social networking platform that her husband is performing a role close to his real self. Nani confesses he is notorious in forgetting things. “I’d have left home promising to be back in an hour. But when I start discussing something related to cinema, I lose track of time and might return three hours later.” Then, there’s the tendency to forget names and faces. “I dread the question ‘do you remember me?’ I cover up with a smile and pleasantries so that no one feels hurt.”
Nani’s sister has nicknamed him ‘multiplex’ since he shifts attention from one screen or a chapter to another.
“My sister felt Bale Bale … is my story. To my surprise, after seeing the trailer, a lot of people told me how they relate to it through their own experiences or are reminded of a friend or family member,” he says.
