Venkatesh Daggubati, son of movie moghul Padmasree Dr D Ramanaidu, began his film journey in 1986 with ‘Kaliyuga Pandavulu’ and won a Nandi award as best male debut actor. He touched the people’s heart through ‘Chanti’, ‘Swarna Kamalam’, ‘Prema’, ‘Pavitra Bandham, ‘Suryavamsham’, ‘Kalisundam Raa’, ‘Vasantham’, ‘Sankranti’ and ‘Aadavari Maatalaku Ardhale Verule’. Not stopping with that, he got connected to the family as well as the youth and mass audiences with films like ‘Bobbili Raja’, ‘Coolie No. 1’, ‘Kshana Kshanam’, ‘Sundarakanda’, ‘Preminchukundaam Raa’, ‘Pellichesukundam’, ‘Ganesh’, ‘Raja’, ‘Jayam Manade Raa’, ‘Intlo Illalu Vantintlo Priyuralu’, ‘Nuvvu Naaku Nachchav, ‘Malleeswari’, ‘Lakshmi’, ‘Tulasi’, ‘Chintakayala Ravi’, ‘Namo Venkateswa’ and the list goes on. Right now he is doing a remake of Malayalam super hit film ‘Bodyguard’. The actor won 7 prestigious Nandi awards and 4 Filmfare awards in his 25 years of film journey. With most of his films being the box office hits, he was credited as Victory Venkatesh. On the eve of completion of his 25 years of journey in filmdom Venkatesh gave an interview to the media personnel. Here are some excerpts:
Tell us a bit about your 25 years journey in filmdom?
Firstly, I want to thank everyone who has been supporting me in this 25 years of my film journey, especially my producers, directors, technicians from 24 frames and my co-artists. I was able to stabilize in this film industry by their support only. 25 years have passed very quickly and I still enjoy this journey.
Can you share with us a few unforgettable experiences in your film career?
My career itself is a great experience. I worked with great directors like Raghavendra Rao garu, Dasari Narayana Rao garu, K Vishwanath garu, Ram Gopal Varma garu and many more. Apart from that, I also worked with many heroines and most of them were introduced to the film industry through my films. The suggestions and advices given by my fans have helped me a lot to go on the right path.
Have you ever thought that you would settle down in film industry?
I never had the intention of coming into films before my first film ‘Kaliyuga Pandavulu’. It just happened so. But I took it serious after stepping into the film industry and I’ve build my fans base with their encouragement only. Gradually women too accepted and encouraged me. I’ve sustained in the industry with all their support and the media support as well.
How do you measure the success or failure?
I do not think much about them. I believe in hard work, but at the same time I wouldn’t predict anything. I always believe that hard work pays fruitful results. According to me wishes and desires will make a man unhappy unless there is hard work and persistence.
What kind of films are you planning to do in near future?
Right now I’m 50. So henceforth the films I choose will be as per my age and at the same time I’m open to those who come up with new ideas.
Is there a chance to do the sequel to ‘Bobbili Raja’?
Yes, I’ve an idea to do the sequel for that film.
Do you have any plans to do multi-starrer films?
Yes, there is one with Mahesh Babu for which the script is being prepared.
Why are we not able to see more of multi-starrer films in Telugu like in Bollywood?
We can hope multi-starrer films provided directors come up with good scripts. The heroes of present generation have good talent and energy. With a bit of patience we can definitely hope for such films.
Did you ever repent any time for coming into this field?
I delivered five flops at a stretch after my debut film ‘Kaliyuga Pandavulu’. So I had that feeling then. But later after tasting consecutive successes I never turned back. I was also lucky to get good scripts during that time.
Is there any particular film/films that you have regretted for doing it?
Yes, of course, but sometimes we cannot avoid such films due to obligations. Occassionally such mistakes do occur.
What kind of relationship do you have with senior heroes like Chiranjeevi, Balakrishna and Nagarjuna?
I’ve a great rapport with all three of them. Infact, I’ve always been maintaining a successful relationship.
Have you ever felt tired of this journey to the point of retiring from films?
So far I’ve never felt mentally tired because if I start to get that feeling then the audience would not want to watch my films anymore and that their attention would get diverted elsewhere. However, I used to be physically tired at times. That is because of some mishaps, but nevertheless I would always end up doing good films only after those mishaps. On the other hand at times I even missed the possibility of doing films like ‘Roja’ due to that.
What is the secret behind your success?
Self-discipline, hard work and determination these are the things I learnt from my father and how to be positive with everyone in the industry. I’m moving forward in life only with the support rendered by father and brother. So far I’ve done about 64 films out of which 10% of films have disappointed me. The rest of the films were successful ones.
Just wanted to know the list of your forthcoming flicks.
As per the media circle, I’m currently doing the film ‘Bodyguard’. However we are yet to fix a title for that film. I’ll be doing a film under Dasarath’s direction and a film under Dil Raju’s production shortly. I’m also planning a film on my home banner. This apart, in 2012, I’ve a project titled ‘Vivekananda’.
