This is the first real-life character of your career. How was the experience? The experience was very different from any of the previous characters I've played. This film is inspired from some true events and these true events consist of about 22 fishermen that usually travel from this village called Srikakulam. They go all the way to Gujarat, take boats on rent from there and go out fishing and unfortunately on one trip they get caught in Pakistan waters. They drift off into Pakistan waters, get caught there and put in jail. They're in jail there for about a year and a half and then eventually released.
Did you undertake any research before plunging into your character? I had gone down to Srikakulam, the village where these fishermen are from. It's in fact a small town called D Matchilesam. I had gone down there, spent some time with them after the director had told me of the idea of the film. The film was not fully scripted then, but he just told me an idea in in a very documentary kind of form. I went down there, met these families, heard out their experiences, their challenges, what they went through in Pakistan and how their life is at sea.So a lot of these moments, these interactions with them gave me a lot of detailing and design for my character and they're very inspiring people in real. So, this inspired me a lot and motivated me a lot and they are real heroes for me in a way. If you go down to listening about all their challenges and the way they navigate through all this, it's very, very inspiring.
Tell me about it? They're out in for almost 25 to 30 days in a month and once they're out there, there's no connect to the world. Even if there is some kind of emergency at home, they don't know about it.If something happens on the boat, they have to take care of themselves out there in the ocean. No kind of network connection whatsoever. So various challenges.
How did these experiences effect you personally? So many moments like this sort of really inspired me and more than anything, this film, the soul of the film is a love story and we have drawn a few inspirations from what they have said. but obviously put it into a completely different cinematic language. But a lot of the basic emotions are inspired from the experiences that they have shared.
Thandel sounds very different from what you have done so far? So yeah, overall, the experience was very different. It's the first time I'm attempting something that's sort of based out of some true events. Usually, characters have been fictional so far. Over here it's playing something that's drawn out of a real character. So yeah, it's been a very different experience, very very new, very challenging and it's inspired me and motivated me in many ways. So it's been a very humbling experience.
It was very gracious of your Thandel team to approach Mrs Sushma Swaraj’s daughter to get clearance for using her name and presence in the film? Yes, the team has approached Sushma Swaraj's daughter, Bansuri Swaraj and we have gotten an NOC from her for whatever we are using in the film. I knew all the experiences that the fishermen went through in Pakistan. We've sat down and had this conversation with them, and they've been very transparent, and they've opened up to us on whatever they have been through or rather whatever they've said they've been through. So yeah, I know a lot about it but we are not going exactly as per what happened because of various other reasons. But the fact that these people got caught in Pakistan, were put in a jail over there for a year and a half, their release was delayed due to various political factors that were happening during that year of 2017, 2018, 2019. I believe usually they come out in a few months but their release was delayed for several months because of these political conflicts between both the countries and how various episodes during that time had delayed their release even more. So this is something we are broadly covering in the film but we are not getting down into the exact details as to what happened there and all that. That has been obviously put into a cinematic screenplay and is going to be presented to the audience.
This is also the first time you are playing a rustic character I would say this is the first time I'm playing a rooted character such as a fisherman. Yes, very close to the land, very close to the soil. It's been a great experience. It was quite a challenging transformation to be honest because I'm very different in the way I look and the way I behave from their actual real texture and lives but of course at the end of the day it is the actor's job to sort of mould into character. So the transformation for this one took me time. Like I said, a lot of clarity had come into me when I made that trip to Srikakulam and interacted with them. A lot of notes happened there. I could come back and really work with the director and detail this character out and the biggest challenge about the transformation was the slang. I speak in a Srikakulam slang which is very unique, very very different from the Telugu you usually hear and not much used in the movies. So learning the slang and adapting to this was a task and apart from that also their fishing activities like throwing the net and various other activities on the boat when they're out in the sea. There was a lot of workshop and rehearsals that happened on this front.
This is your second film with Sai Pallavi? Working with Sai Pallavi is always an amazing experience. She's an artist who sort of complements your performance with the energy she brings on screen and also she's such a transparent actor. She's always on point with her beats and she's so clear about the character. Very very involved and immersed in the script at all times. She's such a pleasure to work with.
Why do you think audiences would want to watch Thandel? This love story over here what we are showing will be very different from what we've done before. The first film Sai and I did together was the film Love Story where it was more of a boy meets girl and the treatment from there and how they sort of journey from there from that point and the conflicts that come in between. But with the film Thadel, the film opens with us in love and we're going through some conflicts from that point of time. So I would say it's a more mature kind of a treatment, mature kind of a role in terms of the love story from what you've seen us in before.
How important is Thandel to your career? Thandel is extremely important for me. As an actor I'm really looking forward to this one. Just like any other film but more than anything I've journeyed with this film for almost two years. A lot of effort has gone into the characterization, a lot of effort has been put in by me to mould into character and try to make it as true and convincing as possible for the audience. I'm really looking forward to this film sort of shaping my career in a completely new and positive direction and also this is the biggest production I've been a part of. So there is a lot of opportunity with Thandel that I'm hoping will resonate with the audience.
Also Read: Naga Chaitanya starrer Thandel to celebrate the work of late Sushma Swaraj; Producer expresses gratitude towards minister’s family
from Featured Movie News | Featured Bollywood News - Bollywood Hungama https://ift.tt/ZA2Ruj6
via IFTTT
