‘A holiday entertainer’
Vijay Deverakonda discusses Family Star, learning to trust his instincts and the business of cinema
On a balmy afternoon, prior to the release of his Telugu film Family Star, Vijay Deverakonda is a picture of calm. In this conversation at the film’s production office, he reveals that at least 50 people known to the producer, the director and his own family have watched the film, and there is an air of cheer and confidence.
One of the first promos of Family Star summed up the essence of Vijay’s character, a combination of a family man and a star who flexes his muscles. The initial title in consideration, however, was different. “The original title was the hero’s name, Govardhan. In real life, this is my father’s name. In the film, the grandfather passes on this name to my character and believes that the boy can shoulder the family responsibilities,” says Vijay. Once the film went on floors, the team wanted a title representing someone in each family who makes everyone feel secure. “Every family has a star. We wanted a title that would resonate with everyone through that characterisation.”
Family Star, in which he shares the screen with Mrunal Thakur, is his second collaboration with director Parasuram Petla after Geetha Govindam (2018).
A lot has changed since the times of GG. “Back then, we had nothing to lose,” Vijay recalls. “I was a young boy happy that I was getting to live my dream of acting in films. I did not think further. It took me a week to understand Parasuram’s style of working. Now, I vibe with him instantly; when a director knows that an actor understands what he wants, he has a blast. Our craft has improved; we understand a film’s structure and performance much better.”
Middle class memories
Family Star is billed as a film set in a middleclass milieu. Having grown up in a middleclass setting, did Vijay rely on his muscle memory of reallife observations to play the character with added familiarity and authenticity? “Certainly. Bujji (Parasuram) and I know how boys from such families behave in certain situations. In college, if I liked a girl, I would appear cool and confident and not disclose that I didn’t have enough money.
But ultimately my budget will restrict me.” Vijay points out that the film is not a biopicstyle depiction of a middleclass man’s journey. “This is a mainstream Telugu holiday entertainer. The way my character reacts to a conflict point is over the top and yet, it reflects how middleclass people can get upset. Govardhan’s extreme reaction makes the film entertaining.”
Family Star went through several changes during its making and Vijay points out that it has helped the film. However, there have been cases when changes have not helped certain films. He reckons that as an actor, he knows instinctively if things are on or off the mark.
He points out that a film is ultimately shaped by a team — the producer, director, lead actors, cameraman, music director, editors, costars, and assistant directors. “All their opinions begin to affect you in some way. There are times when my gut instinct may not match others’ opinions.”
Vijay recalls the experience of Pelli Choopulu and Arjun Reddy, when he and
the respective directors, Tharun Bhascker and Sandeep Reddy Vanga, believed in the films despite several others not seeing the merit in them.
On the contrary, there have been times when Vijay would think something was amiss but others had a different opinion. “Then, you start believing in it since you have put in so much effort. I dislike it when my gut instinct gets swayed.”
Learnings from
This was true in the case of Liger. While he was training for the physical transformation and learning to speak with a stutter, he was aware of the changes the film went through. Vijay recalls the initial narration, “In summary, it was about a boy from Karimnagar and his mother who sells chai. They move to Hyderabad since the boy has big dreams and wants to be a fighter.”
Liger morphed into a multilingual film aiming to capture the national market. “Somewhere down the line the scene shifted to Mumbai and the Karimnagar angle was not established.” Pausing, he admits that he had his doubts but got swayed when at least eight directors, the marketing team and others who had watched portions of the film told him that it would click. “I also started believing that all my hard work had to pay off.”
More than the film not working at the box office, what affected him was how he had not seen through the flaws.
Business and choices
In the days following the release of Arjun Reddy, Vijay had told this reporter that he hopes that even a decade down the line, he can retain the freedom to choose films without the restrictions of image. Ask him if he still has that freedom and he says, “I am open to working with any director or producer and any genre except horror, which I do not enjoy watching. But I want to do films that will be watched by a large section of the audience. I cannot do a niche film if I cannot control the budget and the cycle of business.”
Vijay’s line up includes films with directors Gowtam Tinnanuri, Rahul Sankrityan and another that is to be announced. “The next two years are going to be physically challenging, with films in different time periods and I will sport different looks and speak different accents. I am excited about all my films.”
During Geetha Govindam, I was just happy that I was getting to live my dream of acting in films. I did not think further.