Arjun Kalyan, a talented upcoming Tollywood actor, who you probably don’t know him, is like most of the actors in the industry, doing the best he can each day to find his way in a challenging, unpredictable and highly competitive industry. Here are few excerpts from the exclusive interview with Arjun Kalyan.
Hi Arjun Kalyan, where are you from?
Hi! My dad hails from Khammam and my Mom from Rajahmundry. But I was brought up in various places in AP, throughout my childhood, due to my dad’s job. But for the past 7 yrs we settled in Hyderabad. In between, I lived in the US for about 5 yrs.
Do you recall how your interest in films originated?
I used to participate in dance competitions since my +2 days. Eventually that led to an interest in acting, as I used to do more of an expression-based dance rather than gymnastic style. Plus I got inspired by Shah Rukh Khan and Pawan Kalyan during my Engineering days. But then I wasn’t sure if I should get into acting, as it’s a risky path for people from non-filmy background. The success of Siddharth and Nani (much later), kind of encouraged me that even outsiders can make a name in this industry. Once after my Engineering, I met Siddharth to seek his advice, as he had a similar background like mine. He advised me to finish my Masters first, which I was also planning for (if not movies), and then come back. As he did the same thing. So I went to US, finished my MS, and later went to Newyork Film Academy (NYFA) to pursue Acting course, while working simultaneously. After that various film makers in US, got to know about me and asked me to come for the auditions.
Before joining ‘Chinna Cinema’ team, have you met any other director or producer?
After my NYFA course, I did give auditions and screen-tests for few film-makers like Deva Katta, Ravi Babu, Sekhar Kammula, Chandra Sekhar Yeleti and Praveen Sattaru. While I came close to being casted in some of their films, eventually it happened only with “Chinna Cinema”.
‘Chinna Cinema’ is your first film. What was your moment when you felt ‘I’ve finally made it’?
I was happy to get selected, but I didn’t jump off from my seat and celebrated. I came close for being selected in various movies, previously. I even got selected in “Prasthanam” for the negative brother’s role, but later on opted out due to personal issues, I had then. So in practical, I know that there are few more stages to be done to realize my dream completely - like we have to finish filming, post-production, marketing, have a decent release and then get people acceptance and good reviews! Plus I need to balance my job and film. So I was kinda more focused on balancing these things and also prepare for my role and shooting.
What would you like our potential readers to know about this film?
It is an experimental film, with a satirical and subtle comedy touch. The screenplay is done in a novel way. I think its first of its kind to have such kind of screenplay in our Telugu films. There are multiple tracks related to each other. There is a cute love angle, silly comedy episodes and also there is an undercurrent message that forms the core of the story – which says “Any charity should be Selfless. If you do charity on a selfish or agenda basis, it won’t long last and will have adverse effects in the future”.
Tell us a bit about your character in the film too?
My character name is “Ramu”. He is an energetic middle class guy, who moves from India to US to earn money for a reason. But the novel thing in my character is that, I don’t play a regular college student or IT professional, like most protagonists do in US backdrop films. In this film, we show the other side of NRIs, who work in petrol bunks, restaurants or grocery stores and their hardships with their employers.
Was it a challenge or did you find it easy and natural?
I always look for challenges while acting and I try to keep it as natural and believable. And in this character I had a chance to portray various shades like comedy, romance, aggression and melodrama. So am kind of lucky to have got such role in my first film itself. But we had to chop off some scenes and an item song, due to some censor and screenplay issues. Otherwise I got to show whole gamut of expressions in this role. So am more than happy!
What did you learn about yourself while acting in this film?
That there is lot more to learn and that I have to become more flexible. Actors like SRK, Mahesh and Jr.NTR lighten up the screen with just their sheer presence, charm, energy and aura. And I wish to do that, hopefully, down the lane.
How has the response been to ‘Chinna Cinema’ audio since the day of its launch?
People whoever have heard the audio appreciated it. They liked the freshness of the songs, specially “Puthadi Bomma” and “Ramu gadu” (which was censored). Some of them were even surprised that it was done by a new comer. So all the credit goes to our music director Praveen, his team and the lyricists. I believe Music (Songs and BGM) is one of the key strengths of our film.
Any favourite tracks?
Honestly I like all the tracks in the film. May be my order of liking is Puthadi Bomma, Hari lo Ranga, USA, Alay Vachi and Ramugadu.
What are your comments on director A K Kambampati and producer Sekhar?
Both of them are thorough professionals and gutsy film-makers. They have done a good job, within their budget limits and resources. Ajay is very particular and clear on what he wanted from his actors and technicians. I think that’s an important trait that you need as a maker. Sekhar has also given the dialogues and worked on the story along with Ajay. I believe Sekhar’s dialogues are one of the key strengths of our film. Apart from their creative skills, they are very good human beings. They treated all the cast and crew with great dignity and respect. I would like this film to be successful just for the hard work and efforts that they have put in. Having seen from the close quarters, I know what kind of hardships and struggles that they went through while making this film. They have given their everything for this film. I will miss working with them.
Who are some of your favourite directors?
Trivikiram Srinivas, Rajamouli, Puri Jagannath, Mani Ratnam, Farhan Akhtar and Imitiaz Ali.
Who are your favorite actors or role models?
Like I said earlier, I am inspired by SRK and Pavan Kalyan. They are sort of my role models. But then I have lot of favorite actors like Kamal Hassan, Surya, Mahesh babu, Hritik, Ranbir, Shahid, Siddharth, Nani, Leonardo, Tom Cruise etc. But I think once you become an actor, you cannot like just one actor. You will be observing lot of them and try to absorb good qualities from various actors.
What films have most influenced your life?
Dil Se, Yuva and Johnny are the films that inspired me into films initially. Later on I got inspired by Nayagan and Anbe Shivam.
What kind of roles and films, you would like to do?
I would like to do a variety of roles – romantic comedies, intense and dark love stories like Rockstar, Dev D and new concepts like Barfi, Paan Singh Tomar.
Do you have anything specific that you want to say to your readers?
I would request the readers to watch our ‘Chinna Cinema’ with ‘Chinna’ expectations. It’s not a larger than life film and it doesn’t have such characters. Even the conflicts are very relatable in our regular life. It’s a cute clean film without any violence and vulgar comedy. In addition there is a great message conveyed undercurrent. So I request them to watch it as soon as possible, so that it would help us increase our theatrical shows. And if you like our film, please spread the word of mouth and encourage your near and dear to watch our film. Small films like these depend on such positive mouth word and reviews, as we don’t have stars or financial muscle to market aggressively.
___Radhika Andluri ([email protected])
