I know Telugu but it’s just that I’m not fluent: Mohanlal

Malayalam superstar Mohanlal was recently in Hyderabad shooting for one of his Telugu films. We managed to catch up with him in his caravan for a brief conversation. The Mollywood heavy hitter is making his comeback into Tollywood after 22 years with family drama ‘Manamantha’, directed by Chandrasekhar Yeleti. His only appearance in a Telugu film was Akkineni Nageswara Rao and Balakrishna-starrer ‘Gandivam’.
Ask the veteran about the feeling and he responds, “To be honest, it’s normal. I’m an actor and acting is my profession. So everything is the same to me except the language, so there’s no great deal of difference.”
Rating Yeleti’s work as ‘good’, he points out, “Yeleti is a filmmaker who knows what exactly he wants. I like his attention to detail and the way he narrates a scene to artistes; he basically creates a comfortable atmosphere on the sets and actors need such freedom to deliver their best. I can’t reveal anything about my role but it’s going to be interesting for all my fans out there in Telugu. I’m sure they’ll love me in this character.”
About the language, the actor notes, “I know Telugu but it’s just that I’m not fluent. I love the language a lot and that’s the reason why I hired an associate specifically to get my lines and diction right.”
The celebrated actor is also working on another Telugu film ‘Janatha Garage’, with NTR. He is playing the Tollywood’s superstar uncle in the actioner. “It’s nice! NTR is a talented actor and brings a lot of energy to the sets. I had a good time shooting with him,” he informs.
His love for the Pearl City makes him comeback to shoot time and again. “Oh I love the city, having visited it several times in the past for my Malayalam and Tamil films. Perhaps this time it’s special because I’m shooting for a couple of Telugu films. However, I haven’t had much time to explore it,” he winks, signing off.

Sashidhar Adivi