With his thick beard and simple looks, he could be mistaken for a Tamil movie hero. But Telugu boy Arun Adith is currently working in both Tamil and Telugu films in Chennai and Hyderabad. His Telugu is as fluent as Tamil. His debut in Telugu thriller Katha followed by Weekend Love . Now Tungabhadra is all set to be released.
“I did a Tamil movie in which I played a village role. In that I tried this beard and hair and it didn't work for me. Then critics wrote me off and said I shouldn't be trying village roles and that urban guys couldn't fit in them. Back here, after completing the film, I realised that the script should be good – appearance comes later. I have been maintaining this look for the past 15 months though I am allowed to shave,” he laughs.
Weekend Love was referred by Srihari and Arun Adith was keen on doing it. However the film didn't work since Srihari passed away and the debut producer didn't have the resources to market and exhibit it.
Talking of the title Tungabhadra , he reveals that Tunga and Bhadra are actually two tributaries; the story is of two similar people with different ideals. And no, the story though doesn't happen on the banks of the river, it happens in and around Guntur in Karlapudi and is based on grassroot level politics. “In a very long time you get to see a local, native feel. There is a love story too. As far as I know Jayam was the last such film. The movie has no particular antagonist and protagonist. The characters are grey and actors come without an image; for instance we know Prakash Raj is either good or bad in the movies but Sathyaraj does a neutral character. Sathyaraj was turning down all films, he has worked in 300 films and didn't want to do the same old films again. Here, he brought to the table more than what he was given on paper,” he avers.
Wasn’t this film easy since he had done this role earlier in a Tamil film? Arun disagress: “Here there is more than growing a beard and looking angry — director Gogineni Srinivas wanted everything right, from walking, smoking, hanging from the bus etc. He had a particular character in mind and was extracting that from me. He wanted me to talk in Guntur slang and didn't want me to exaggerate. The toughest part was to bring originality to the language beyond the body and looks. Today when I see the posters I look like someone else..for a second I couldn't recognise myself"
The film was shot in summer and the actor would be on the road all day, on the Guntur-Amaravati highway. He had to run on the stretch 6 to 7 kms straight road and catch a bus for the scenes. “By end of the day I would be running 16 or 17 kms and we did this continuously for 88 days and had a break of 11 days. We shot on Sundays too and it was mad. There was absolutely no make up and all I had to do was just change clothes and be ready in a minute. Cinematographer Rahul shot in live locations and everything was candid. He gave it a different tone. Music is fresh too.” Finally Arun Adith is very happy that the film has an emotional graph that goes with the characters and that is really complex.
