You are making your debut in Telugu with ‘The Agent’. Do you feel like a debutant for a different set of audience?
Yes, I am making my debut for the Telugu film industry, and I do feel like a debutant for this audience because this audience is aware of me but has not really seen me. They are mostly only used to seeing Telugu films. For instance, yesterday I was promoting the film in a place called Warangal. These are small towns and that’s how they promote films over here. There were about 10,000 people who had just come for a pre-film release event, and it was insane. The love they have for cinema there is just nuts. Yes, I am nervous and I do feel like a debutant. It is like I am starting all over again.
After ‘The Empire’, this is the second time you will be seen playing an antagonist. What attracted you to this character?
The story largely attracted me because it is about three characters: Mammootty sir’s character, my character and Akhil’s character. We are three raw agents. I am just the agent who went rogue for some reason. It was the story that attracted me to do this film. Also, I say it’s good to be bad. And playing bad gives you few limitations on what you can do with your character. So if you are playing this kind of role, there is madness you can bring into the performance that can be attractive to any viewer. This role gave me scope for better acting.
You sport a rugged look in the movie. What went into creating that look?
Most of it has been my director, Surinder Reddy’s vision. He worked with me on it and visualised what he wanted. We kept changing the look on my face. And in the film, I changed my look a couple of times. He wanted the character to be a little fluid, to sometimes look formal, and to sometimes look crazy. And that was the madness he wanted in the performance.
Did you have any reference points while preparing for your character?
Not really. We just wanted to bring our own madness in, and acting wise, my director again knew exactly how he wanted me to play this character. Surinder sees the whole film in his head. I saw it a certain way, but he saw it in a different way. To be honest, I went with his vision because, ultimately, he knows exactly what the audience loves to watch. The acting I did in Empire is far different from the acting I have done here. And I am quite curious to see how it turns out in terms of the audience reaction. I am assuming they will like it because Surinder makes commercial films and he knows exactly what the audiences want. So I just submitted myself completely to the director, and said, “You tell me what you want, and I will give it to you.”
How was it working with Akhil Akkineni and Mammootty?
This is my second film with Mammootty sir. I did a small part in a film called ‘Kandakonden Kandakonden’, a Tamil film, long ago, and that was my first experience working with him. I am now working with him after about 18–20 years. We all know that Mammootty sir is one of the finest actors we have in this country, so watching him on set was an absolute pleasure. Doing scenes opposite him and with him is just outstanding because our characters oppose each other in this film, and for me, I felt it was always a challenge. I wanted to prove myself and just be fantastic in front of him. So while watching and observing, I was also trying to get better, and that just brings out the best in every actor. Likewise with Akhil, he’s young and he’s got so much energy. His fitness levels are great, and he’s looking great in the film. Besides working, our off-screen camaraderie is also outstanding. We struck up a really good friendship. The experience of shooting this film has been fantastic. They really made me feel welcome because this is my debut film in Telugu. I totally respected and loved the experience.
