I was nervous about my look, says Varun Tej

Young actor Varun Tej, who went in for a complete makeover for his upcoming movie 'Valmiki,' says "Story determines the look and not the other way round.

Initially, I was apprehensive about my bearded look but after receiving positive response for my first look, I heaved a sigh of relief."

Further talking about the role, he adds "The character I am playing is neither a college going guy nor a highly qualified person, but a tough and fearless guy," he adds.

He was confident with the Tamil remake, "Every actor should have the confidence to do different roles. I was personally excited with the original film but we made lot of changes to connect with Telugu viewers," he informs.

After playing lover boy roles in films like 'Fidaa' and 'Tholi Prema,' Varun transformed into a menacing Gaddala Konda Ganesh, "More than my dark role, we were doing this film for its novel script.

Tamil film 'Jigarthanda' had cinema industry as the backdrop, so it added to my interest. " He claims to have practiced hard to get the Telangana dialect right, "I had to practice a bit and it came out well and even received a pat from my uncle Pawan Kalyan garu," he adds.

Varun thanks Harris Shankar for making him to perform better, "Harris Shankar made it easier for me as well as for Pooja Hegde by enacting each and every shot, unlike most directors who make us act on our own," he points out.

On carrying on his look even off the screen, he reasons, "I didn't have time to cut my hair short because I am busy in promotions of the movie."

The mega hero is happy to do roles with different shades, "Frankly, I felt easier doing the dark role than the other one, since I was travelling with the script for quite some time.

I had to grow hair and beard and finally we were satisfied with few test pictures."

Hailing from the Chiranjeevi family, the son of Nagababu, believed that films would be his first choice by default.

"Chiranjeevi garu told me that I am looking good after a casual photo shoot in Rajasthan that boosted my confidence, but I took three years to inform the same to my father."

Actually, my dad felt that I could make a better director, than actor but I was adamant.

"Once I observed the difficult work of a director on the sets, I realized that it was not my cup of tea and pursued acting for good."

He will pursue exploring varied roles as well, "While listening to 'Jigarthanda' script, I got connected more to Bobby Simha's role than Siddarth's and I could play my first anti-hero role." he concludes.