I found production boring: Allu Sirish

It has been more than two years since Allu Sirish’s second film ‘Kotha Janta’ hit the screens and the actor informs that the gap was not intentional as he had to undergo a knee surgery that kept him out of action for six months. “Once I felt I was back in shape, I resumed work, green-signalling Parasuram’s ‘Srirasthu Subhamasthu’ in flat 20 minutes. But he took five months to come up with a complete bound script. In the interim I’ve worked on my fitness,” he begins.

It was Sirish who wanted to work with Parasuram. “I liked his films ‘Solo’ and ‘Anjaneyulu’ and wanted to work with him but I never had any formal interaction with him. And when I finally met him, he said that he too was keen on working with me,” he flashbacks fondly, adding that he admires the way the director handles drama and comedy in his films. “Working with him has helped me to grow as an actor immensely.

He used to explain in detail how I should go about emoting a scene and how I should render a dialogue. He is also very particular about the way you stress a line. In fact, he made me dub for 60 hours over eight days for ‘Srirasthu Subhamasthu’, making me to think why he is so finicky. But when I saw the final output, I understood what he was trying to get out from me.

“Last week I told him that he made my next director’s job very easy as he had improved my skills big time. Irrespective of the film’s box-office performance, I would like to work with him again,” he notes. While he plays a “happy-go-lucky chap who loves to crack jokes and tease girls,” he points out that the film is about a college pass out who overcomes hurdles to win his love. “It’s a simple line but the drama and character conflicts define the film. It’s the story of every household and in deeper layers, there’s a certain social commentary,” he avers.

Coming from a family that thrives on dance, Sirish is yet to leave his mark as a dancer but it is the last thing on his mind. “Everybody has their strength and I’m not going to work too much on my dance because I don’t want to back on it as my strength. Rather I want to improve as an actor,” he asserts, insisting that just because two other people besides him are dancing, he need not. “To give a reply to them I don’t want to dance unnecessarily. I’m sure that they can’t do what I do. So likewise, I shouldn’t be attempting at things which they are better at, than me.”

Youngest son of Geetha Arts head honcho Allu Aravind, Sirish points out that he did try his hands at production but found it to be boring. “There’s no creativity in production. Finances don’t interest me, rather story sittings, music sittings and exploring a character interests me. You need to be managerial and a money person to be good at production which I am not.

I cannot handle money, neither do I like instructing people. I never felt the kick of going to work as a producer,” admits Sirish, who will be filming for debutant director Venu Mallidi’s next. “I’ve told the producer that I’ll require 45 days (after ‘Srirasthu…’ opens) to join his film’s sets. Before I start shooting for it, I want to attend the script reading sessions. The character Gautham has a lot of weight, so it needs time,” he concludes.