Bad is good for Sridhar

Actor Sridhar Rao, best known for his villainous outings in films like ‘Satyam,’ ‘Bangaram’ and ‘Dhammu,’ believes that his ready-to-release film, ‘Happy Birthday’, will change audience’s perception about him. “I play an in-demand ad filmmaker Rahul who gets a shot at a feature film.

He is to cast a new girl in the film and as he comes across Ria (Jyotii Sethi), an aspiring actress, the film starts to take a dramatic twist. It would be a career defining role for me,” he reveals, adding that the film, shot under 30 days, is a romantic thriller with an edge-of-the-seat climax. “You have to watch out for Sanjjanaa’s role too. There are three shades to it.”

Sridhar insists that he had to prep up for the role. “I watched a lot of Hollywood and Bollywood films for reference. One such film was Arjun Rampal and Chitrangada Singh-starrer ‘Inkaar,’” he admits. “The director wanted me to have a certain body language and mannerisms. In fact, he was one the one who asked me up pick up a hat since most ad directors sport hats.”

Point out that his career has never taken off despite him starting in 2004 and he says that after ‘Satyam’ released in 2004, he had to be away in Bengaluru for a major time to honour his modelling assignments. “I was in a dilemma whether to choose films or modelling. I’ve signed my second film ‘Bangaram’ two- and-a- half years after ‘Satyam’ released. Fortunately, whatever I have roles I have played, I managed to get noticed by the audience.”

But doesn’t he think he played too many bad roles? “I pick roles on the basis of what they add to the overall narrative. It’s never been bad or good roles. It’s just that I took the best from what was on offer,” he declares. Up next, the lanky actor has a film with ‘Pelli Pusthakam’ director M Ramakrishna. “We’ve shot the climax at Medaram Jatara recently amidst a sea of crowd. It’s a very interesting role that I’m playing,” he promises, signing off.