‘No one is here for anyone but for oneself’
Q What’s your take on relationships nowadays?
I believe all relationships are selfish because your heart is in it only if you get something out of it. No one is here for anyone but for oneself; we forget about giving and always expect something in exchange. That being said, I believe you must involve yourself in the relationship you’re in, and do all it takes to make the other person happy.
Q How does it feel to be tagged as a lucky charm for makers?
(Laughs) I believe in working hard until you are the reason for audiences to watch the film. Success will then follow. The day you stop working hard is when you start turning unlucky.
Q After your 2016-film Kshanam, we heard you rejected a couple of scripts. Why?
Yes, I did. I need to find a script that I find engaging as an audience. I’ll do my best for the character I play only if I have my heart in it.
Q Was Major simultaneously shot, in all languages it is being made in?
Yes. Several things have been written keeping in mind the sensibilities of the Indian audience. And we’ve looked at several scenes from the context of people from different regions like, say, Kanpur or Delhi and Hyderabad and Vijayawada, understanding the nuances.
Q How comfortable are you with Hindi?
I think you should tell me that after watching the movie. [Smiles] I grew up in San Francisco back when there weren’t many Telugu people. I mostly had Punjabi- and Gujarati-speaking people around me, which also influenced the short films I made in my high school days. I spoke in Telugu with my parents and in
“THERE ARE ACTORS LIKE AYUSHMANN KHURRANA WHOM I REALLY LOOK UP TO. ALSO, FOR EVERY SHAH RUKH KHAN, THERE’S AN AMITABH BACHCHAN, WHO, IN TURN, HAS A RAJNIKANT AND CHIRANJEEVI, ETC. SO YOU LEAVE YOUR MARK, WORK HARD AND DON’T LOOK AT COMPETING WITH OTHERS.”
Hindi when I was acting.
Q Was it difficult for you to render Telugu dialogues?
It was. I’m a Telugu by birth, but I did not speak Telugu for the first few years of my life and learned it as a second language. In my head, it took a long time for me to transition to acting in Telugu. I did find it pretty interesting, however, to act in a language I learned later rather than the language I’d already learnt.
Q Acting, directing or producing: which are you more comfortable doing?
Acting has been a true passion, which I discovered while studying in the film school in San Francisco. And though filmmaking was something I found truly interesting, I don’t think I’ve been a good director. I do feel I have a good sense of production and how to maximise the value of a rupee to get the right quality on screen, so I do have a good sense about being a producer. However, most of these skills I bettered over time through my acting career.
Q Do you find it difficult to act, produce and direct simultaneously?
It’s been nine years since I did that last. However, in this film, Major, I am acting and writing but I am not involved in direction and production.
Q Do you think acting and storytelling become easy when you write?
It surely helps, but the key is to not repeat oneself. The goal is to find a varied graph of characters. Obviously, you work with the outside writers to find a fresh perspective.