My son began to like action films: Mahesh Babu

Reigning star Mahesh Babu is truly excited about his maiden Telugu-Tamil bilingual film ‘Spyder’. “Doing a bilingual and working with director Murugadoss was like a dream come true for me. However, doing a bilingual was tedious but I cherish the new experience,’ he says. He terms it as a genuine Telugu-Tamil bilingual “As we shot the film in two languages simultaneously. It was akin to remaking a film on the same day,’ he avers.

However, he claims that spider shown in the teaser in just a concept. “Don’t read too much into it. I play an intelligence officer and its first-of-its-kind film for me as well as for director,’ he points out. “We shot for 190 days and our energies dried up, but director kept our spirits alive and kicking,’ he discloses. He also rules out that the theme revolves around bio-war.

“There is no bio-war. But there are lot of surprises in store for viewers, nevertheless,’ he adds. Describing it as the `costliest’ film in his career, he says “producers N V Prasad and Tagore Madhu had the guts and passion to make such a massive film and kudos to them,’’ About Tamil director-turned-actor S J Suryah, he says “Initially, I was bit hesitant but after two days into the shooting, I found Suryah as the perfect choice for the antagonist role.”

He claims that no film can boast of ‘invincible villain’ and making it more ‘tough for the hero to chase him down,’. When asked about any message in the film, he adds, ‘Director’s earlier films like ‘Ramana’ and ‘Kathi’ had strong messages but in this film it will be subtle,” On the film getting delayed in production he reasons ‘It was like shooting two films for 100 days each. In fact, we shot from 1 am to 5 am in Ahmedabad without seeing sunrise for 25 days,’ he points out.

On working with ace cinematographer Santhosh Sivan “I had been a great admirer of his work in films like ‘Roja and `Dhalapathi.’ Fortunately I got the opportunity to work with him only now,” Did he find any difference in working styles of Telugu and Tamil directors “It is my first film with a Tamil director hence I didn’t find any marked difference. However, Murugadoss is clear-cut about what he wants,’ he adds.

He says that `Bahubali’ opened up market for south films across India. “Earlier, pan-India viewers were not looking much from south films, but `Bahubali’ changed all that. So `Spyder’ is being looked forward to. He describes his co-star Rakul as “very professional and dedicated,” Also showers praises on ace Tamil composer Harris Jayaraj “Background score will leave audience dumbfounded and I realised it’s importance as well’.

On overwhelming response from Tamil viewers and media, “I was floored by their reception. I am curious to know the result in Tamil Nadu. Another bilingual may not happen in near future,” he signs off.

By Sravanthi Sanam