Hyderabadi teen making waves on OTT

Hyderabad: It is not an easy task to make a mark in a movie that has acting powerhouses – Vidya Balan and Shefali Shah. But Hyderabad-born and Texas-based teenager Surya Kasibhatla made this look like a cakewalk and got a lot of positive reviews for his performance in the thriller ‘Jalsa’ on Amazon Prime.

The 14-year-old’s casting in the movie as a teen with cerebral palsy is a good step towards inclusivity as Surya has cerebral palsy. However, this hasn’t hindered his aspirations and dreams.

“Since the age of four, I have dreamt of becoming an actor. We, as a family, watch a lot of movies, and whenever we watched a movie, as my mom recalls, I used to imitate the actor and say key dialogues. As I grew up, I participated in annual day performances at school and enjoyed everything about it,” Surya told Telangana Today.

Terming his first reaction after bagging his debut role as a ‘dream come true’, Surya says he couldn’t believe that he would be working with Vidya Balan and Shefali Shah. Both the actors called him the soul of the movie and told him to be as natural and they will react to his acting.

This teenager also has two YouTube channels wherein he makes videos related to his hobbies and also shares his learnings in the technology field. “I am most interested in React (web application) and React Native (mobile applications) for now. I have just started with the basics required to understand Artificial Intelligence and yet to start my journey on understanding operating systems,” he says. Suirya plays the keyboard, can sing, dance, write poems and articles, and can build web applications.

Hyderabadi Connection:

Although currently residing in Texas, Surya can speak, write and read Telugu and says “Telugu is the language we speak at home. Nenu America lo unna pakka Telugu vaadi ne (Although I am in America, I am a total Telugu person)”.

Surya was born in Hyderabad and lived here until the age of eight. He cherishes the time spent with his teachers and friends from elementary school. “I would like to thank my physiotherapists Asra ma’am and Shravan Sir who worked with me. They are the ones who let us know about this movie opportunity,” the teenager informs.

“I have beautiful memories from the years I spent in Hyderabad. We used to go around a lot and visit places, watch movies and also go to restaurants. Hyderabad is still fresh in my heart! We visited Hyderabad last year and have plans to visit again this June,” he signs off.

 

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