The story of Kerintha Nookaraju

My dad is 60 years old and has never visited a theatre. For the first time he checked into a theatre to catch a film and that too mine

– Parvateesam

Like many aspiring actors, Parvateesam, who played the well received role of Nookaraju in Dil Raju’s ‘Kerintha’, had gone through his share of difficult times before bagging that coveted ‘one’ chance. The Kharagpur-born lad had an inclination towards films and theatre since childhood. “I was into a lot of plays at Kharagpur which was mostly populated by Telugus,” he smiles.

It was one of his plays – ‘Interview Lo Gandharagolam’ – when he was studying Intermediate at Visakhapatnam, that made him realise where his true calling was. “In fact, I wrote it besides featuring in it. After the play, many people said that I should jump into films.”) However, it was only after completing engineering – in Bengaluru – that he decided to try his luck in films. “After 2010, I started approaching production houses for auditions.

I was staying near Secunderabad at that time but a friend, working with Infosys, insisted that I reside at Krishna Nagar for feasible purposes. In fact he was of immense help financially. “I was scared thinking whether I would get a break or not but I never lost hope. I was sure that even if I don’t make it into films, I will pursue theatre. During my constant hunt to get a chance, I got to know about a possible opening in ‘Kerintha’ through a representative of Sri Venkateshwara Creations (SVC).

I went to the audition but learnt that they were looking for a guy good with Srikakulam accent. I returned home, prepared a couple of skits and enacted them in front of the people handling the casting the next day. They asked me to visit them after 15 days,” he recalls. Though one of his friends suggested that auditions for the film were a publicity stunt, Parvateesam still went ahead. “Even my mind echoed his opinion but I didn’t want to take a chance.

I gave a second round of audition before I was asked to drop by the SVC office after 15 days. And when I met them after the set time, I was told that they were considering me for a key role. I met them again after 15 days which is when I got a confirmation that I was in.” What followed was a month-long acting workshop along with co-actors Vishwanath and Sukriti. It was during this period that he got to know that he was playing Nookaraju.

“I was mighty happy when director Saikiran told me about it. As a part of my groundwork for the role, I travelled to Srikakulam, interacted with villagers and penned down the way they go about their language.” Parvateesam is happy that his family has embraced the film and his role in particular. “My dad is 60 years old and has never visited a theatre. For the first time he checked into a theatre to catch a film and that too mine. He was very happy with what he saw.”

By Nagaraj Goud