My first car was a hand-me-down from Venky uncle (actor Venkatesh). He had used his Opel Astra for about six to seven years, if I remember right, and then gave it to me. He asked if I knew to drive and I said yes though I did not. I drove carefully though and never ran into trouble.
I remember once my friend Rohan had come over and we both got into the car. It was a geared vehicle and he told me it is simple to drive — just shift between first, second, third and fourth gear. At that time my crazy logic was that driving would be simple for me since I could use two joysticks at a time.
I learnt driving, passed the test and used the vehicle for about two years until it broke down. The vehicle had lived its life and was then useful only for spare parts. Back then, I would drive past when some film unit was shooting in our studio (Ramanaidu Studios, Hyderabad) and needed a car passing by in the background. My car had become a prop.
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Much later, I bought a Skoda and drove it for a long time, until it clocked three lakh kilometres. One fine day it just stopped. I remember getting very angry that it didn’t work any longer and decided to buy myself a new vehicle.
I am not too passionate about cars and bikes, unlike Chaitu (actor and cousin Naga Chaitanya) or Dulquer Salmaan. I look at vehicles from a utility point of view. As long as there is ample leg room for a tall person like me and good air-conditioning, I am happy.
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Home and office are five minutes away and I mostly drive within the city, barring the times I head towards Ramoji Film City. I don’t enjoy the traffic though. I enjoy going on long drives when I can. I am comfortable driving my Mercedes Benz GLS these days.
I also bought a Bajaj V15 when I learnt that it used metal from the warship INS Vikrant (his film The Ghazi Attack was inspired by true incidents, involving the INS Vikrant) though I can’t ride a two-wheeler well. In fact, I first learnt to ride a bike when I had to shoot a scene for Dum Maaro Dum .
As told to Sangeetha Devi Dundoo