Mahesh Babu feels safe to do commercial movies

Telugu film superstar Mahesh Babu feels it’s safer for stars like him to do commercial films as lot of lives depend on big-budget projects such as his. Mahesh has had his share of flops in his career. But he treats success and failure on par.

"A hit film is what we work for as actors as that goes to show that we have managed to entertain our audiences who shower us with their love and affection throughout the years," Mahesh told IANS.

"It's better to do a film that works. I try to work on a film that my audiences would appreciate and enjoy their time in a theatre. Also, a lot of lives are dependent on one film that we make, so a successful film only makes those families happier," he said, and added that it's tough to judge the fate of any film. Not an exception when it comes to pressure, he feels acting is the only profession in which hard work is usually judged by a single show.

“Pressure is part and parcel of our career. I’m under pressure with all my films. And the reason we are always under pressure is because it’s only in our profession that months and even years of hard work is judged by the first show on Friday,” Mahesh said. Despite being around in the industry for over a decade with hits such as “Okkadu”, “Athadu”, “Pokkiri” and “Dookudu” to his credit, he feels he still has so much to learn as an actor.

“No good actor ever stops learning. He is constantly evolving. From my first film to now it has been a very interesting journey. Over the years, I’ve learnt from co-actors, directors, technicians and even from junior artists. Even today I enter the sets like it’s my first day of shoot,” he said.

After two back-to-back debacles such as “1: Nenokkadine” and “Aagadu”, Mahesh has his hopes pinned on “Srimanthudu”, which hits the screens on August 7. The film is about giving back to the society.

“It’s an interesting concept treated commercially. When director Koratala Siva pitched the idea a year ago, I quite liked it. It has something for everybody. My character Harsha is quite different from all the roles I’ve done so far in my career,” said Mahesh.

As the theme of the film suggests, he says the film will give back to the audience something beyond entertainment. With “Srimanthudu”, Mahesh has turned co-producer with Mythri Movie Makers. He says it was done for creative purpose and not for monetary reasons.

“Starting a production house was mainly to give my producers (the actual producers of our film) a free hand in terms of the scale of the film and not to compromise on quality during the making,” he said. “Srimanthudu” will be dubbed in Tamil and simultaneously released along with its Telugu version.

Asked if he was cashing in on the trend set by S.S. Rajamouli’s “Baahubali”, he said: “We were to explore this idea with my last film but it somehow didn’t work out”. Unlike “Srimanthudu”, his next film “Brahmotsavam” will be made as a Tamil-Telugu bilingual.

“The script of the film is such that it will work in both the languages without having to change much. And it’s precisely why we’ve decided to make it as a bilingual,” said Mahesh, who is proud of the success of “Baahubali”. He had pushed the release of “Srimanthudu” from July to August to allow the solo release of “Baahubali”.

“Our entire film fraternity should be proud of ‘Baahubali’. These are the kind of films that are not made very often. It was Rajamouli sir’s vision and passion that made all this possible,” he said.

By Haricharan Pudipeddi