Venkatesh Daggubati, 59, is a bonafide Sankranti hero. He doesn’t mind people specifying his age. In fact, he makes no effort to camouflage it. In the wake of his film F2 having been declared a hit, he says that owes it to the audience who’ve been generous to his past Pongal releases. He states that the audience has overlooked and is willing to forgive discrepancies, if any, in the story and that prompted him to work hard despite an elbow injury and ensure that the film releases on January 12.
Says Venkatesh, “I play a man past his prime wanting to get married and I make my age evident in a few scenes. I told the director to add that and once done, I felt comfortable. I enjoyed working with the senior actors, the women to be specific. It was a riot. I noticed the audience’s reaction at the theatres, it was crazy yet genuine. I went to a theatre after 10 years to gauge the mood. The television actors from Jabardasth have been encouraging too, I was inspired and energised to get back to my style of comedy after a long time. I don’t remember when I did something like this the last time. I would go home from shoot and tell my family I did something crazy but I enjoyed doing it thoroughly.”
Did he see a winning potential in the story? Venkatesh liked the script but had his doubts about going ballistic with comedy. He kept asking director Anil Ravipudi if it would work. The director saw Venkatesh’s earlier films like Sundarakanda, Abayigaru, Intlo Illalu Vantintlo Priyuralu and was confident that it would work. The actor did it with an assurance that the director will strike a balance of creating a clean, fun film and go safe on the business side. They should be able to create a franchise and the director unmistakably hints at a sequel towards the end of the film. He heaps praise on the director, “The first day shoot was with the women. I noticed the technicians and junior artistes reacting in a positive way and thought that people might have been missing simple comedy and family stories. I asked the people there if they really want to see me like this and they said there is a segment which wanted to. Anil saw my timing and was on his own trip. He would improvise on the spot. I was supposed to work with him and Rana after Pataas but Rana got busy with Baahubali . He has a spark. He did write for Masala too. We knew we had a great first half and the next was slightly identical to Gundamma Katha ; I just went with the flow. No film is 100% perfect. After a point, people will forgive.”
Speaking about the scenes with a dog that brought the house down, Venkatesh says he had done that umpteen times and had alerted the director. People might ridicule if it isn’t fresh and urged a different treatment, it worked. Venkatesh shares a few moments that worked big time, “It was my own dog and they used a background score of sad number from my film Raja . You saw the rapport right? Y Vijaya on one occasion says abbayi height and weight bavundhi ..age yentha and there is a dialogue that goes adhi adogoddhamma please, bagodhu . Ditto with the proposal scene while I buy vegetables with the women folk. Another dialogue that my father-in-law keeps saying Anthega has worked very well. Those after watching the film came out saying anthega anthega . Even on the phone, people calling me are using that word. Prakash Raj and the other actors lent their experience and added value.”
Men play a subservient role in the story and give into women all the time. The actor says there is nothing wrong in portraying characters that way; he says the greatest quality of a woman is that she is very giving. “I won my battle in all my roles in films like Pavitra Bandham etc.” Venkatesh has a good word for Varun Tej too. The actor apparently took care of Venkatesh like his nephews Rana or Naga Chaitanya would, worrying about his food and comfort. He adds, “Varun had his own body language and was happy that he was learning a new comic expression. He was growing day by day, and I was there for him. He never went overboard.”
Venaktesh’s next, says the actor, is a commercial with a lot of drama and action. This time, he’s teaming up with Naga Chaitanya. “The comfort level in the uncle-nephew story will be on a different level. We have to work with the younger generation. As long as directors have a good script that ensures minimum guarantee at the box office, it is enough. Combinations come later, but the fundamental point is in having safe script and budget. I am clear about that; I don’t get carried away.”
