I styled dad for Bruce Lee: Ram Charan

For almost five months— after ‘Govindudu Andarivadele’ opened in cinemas—actor Ram Charan was twiddling thumbs at home, waiting for filmmaker Sreenu Vaitla to come up with the final draft of ‘Bruce Lee- The Fighter’.

“We should have started the film in February itself but Vaitla was working on multiple plot lines. He was keen on moving away from the template that he was associated with (earlier); hence it took time,” reasons Charan.

The actor plays a stuntman in the project, requiring him to fly to Bangkok to hone his skills in mixed martial arts. “I barely had any action in ‘Govindudu Andarivadele’, so ‘Bruce Lee’ required me to be athletic,” he shares.

“I like to do stunts myself. I got injured many a time during the shoot and my wrist is still not in the best of shape.”Admittedly, his family is excited about Chiranjeevi’s comeback. The veteran actor is playing a five-minute cameo in the actioner.

I want to feature in a movie with dad and uncle Pawan Kalyan whole-heartedly but at the end of the day it boils down to an engaging script and an able director

“My mom had tears when she saw dad donning the grease paint for the cameo. From appearance to styling, I designed his look. And the moment he dropped by the sets, the unit forgot that he was away from the thick of action for a while.

“We both shot for an action sequence involving horses and I asked him to use the horse that I was familiar with. But he chose a wild horse and though I was concerned, he zoomed off on it in no time, giving us a perfect shot,” he recalls.

Charan is not worried that his dad’s brief appearance will outshine his and the unit’s efforts. “We will be happy if it indeed happens. Chesindi maa nanna garae kadha (It was done my my dad),” he exults. “I don’t want to grow beyond his stature. I’ll be more than happy to be behind him always.”

The suave actor recently announced floating two production houses— Konidela Productions and White Horse Productions. While the banner named after his family’s surname will shepherd big films, White Horse Productions will be a “platform to encourage new talent.”

“In fact, a day after we announced it, Allu Sirish and Sai Dharam rang me up saying that some new writers and directors are ready to pitch their ideas to me. I told them to wait till I wrap up work on dad’s comeback film.”

With Dasari Narayana Rao’s suggestion that “star films need not necessarily release during festive times as they can attract footfalls on regular weekends too” stirring up a hornet’s nest,

we wonder if Charan echoes the same feeling. “What he said is good. But practically will it work is the catch here,” he reasons.

Charan has upped his style quotient considerably for the past couple of years. Has he turned more fashion-conscious? “Not really,” he begged to differ.

“I do my own styling for a role and I try to meet the demands of the character. Of course, I do take the help of my stylists.”

Into his eighth year in the industry as an actor, Charan has distanced himself from starring in remakes.

However, his next will be a remake of Tamil box-office smash ‘Thani Oruvan’. Put that to him and he responds, “I didn’t feel the urge to star in remakes but I’ve realised not to formulate such rules anymore.

Dad and uncle (Pawan Kalyan) starred in successful remakes and I felt why not I?” He adds as an after-thought, “I loved ‘Thani Oruvan’. I hope we can recreate the same magic here too.

We are giving it a unique spin and once the casting of the antagonist falls in place, I will sit down on the project. We are in talks with Arvind Swamy and Madhavan to play the villain.”

Despite the larger-than-life image that his dad, uncle and he command, Charan sees a possibility of a multi-starrer. “I want to do it whole-heartedly but at the end of the day it boils down to an engaging script and an able director.

The script should convince our union,” he maintains. Charan, on a different note, insists he hasn’t explored any new places of late.

During free time, I like to watch love stories. I also meet my old friends and spend time at the farm with my horses

“On the personal front I haven’t done anything productive of late. My wife Upasna was asking me whether I will take her for a holiday but I said I would visit Kerala to get treated for the pains that I developed during the shoot. She felt bad.”

So, what keeps him busy when he is not shooting? “I watch a lot of movies; I like to watch love stories. I also meet my old friends and spend time at farm with my horses.

Recently Amala Akkineni sent us a camel. We adopted it,” Charan says,

By: Nagaraj Goud