Singer Krishna Chaitanya has been deflecting offers to act for a couple of years. One of the associate directors concerned with the film Ghantasala The Great was persistent and finally a small team met up with him at his home. The singer on his part hoped to put them off once and for all. He recalls, “An associate director for the movie called me many times but I ignored. I said acting is not my cup of tea but I guess director Rama Rao had something on his mind. Moreover he thought that I being a singer and the film being made on a singer will gel with the audiences. I was vexed with their calls and I thought I will call them home and politely decline the offer but I was eventually convinced to play the role. I thought I will give it a try only for the legendary singer. At that point of time, I didn’t know the director then.”
Krishna Chaitanya also admits not knowing much about Ghantasala though but remembers growing up listening to his songs. He shares, “As I took up the project I came to know about his struggle to become a singer, his rise from poverty and that he is also a freedom fighter and had been in jail for a couple of years. The team who visited me gave me an outline and not the complete story, I was hooked.”
Krishna Chaitanya wasn’t worried about facing the camera. It is a part of his singing career to perform before the cameras at the studios or at the events and television channels, for promotions etc.
He reveals the costumes and make-up helped him to get into the character 50 %. Once an artiste puts on make up and begins to dress like the character, he already begins to behave like him.
The body language too changes. He says, “Once I wore his glasses and watch, his clothes — I was able to see and feel the change. Also the work got easier because Ghantasala himself is not an actor and isn’t into theatrics. He is a singer, a legend but as a personality there were very few parameters that I had to match upto him. He is an introvert and my character is also the same.”
Krishna Chaitanya didn’t have any reference to the singer, apart from the photographs he saw on the net or the visuals from a song ‘Sesha Saila Vasa’
The film was shot in Vijayanagaram, Bapatla, Chennai, Hyderabad and Guntur over a period of 40 days. The weather at that time was hot, temperature was around 48 degrees. Krishna Chaitanya recalls walking bare-feet on tar road. He wraps up the conversation, “I am praying for Ghantasala’s blessings. We are not worried about the outcome at the box office, we want his greatness to be known to everyone and this is just our effort.”
