Remakes aren’t meant for me: Nani
The Natural Star speaks about his family drama 'Tuck Jagadish' and how he reinvents himself with every film
“There’s a reason behind the moniker “Tuck” before the name Jagadish. Names like Sattipandu, Devudu Bava, Kumari Akka, Gummadi Varalakshmi in a typical Telugu family give that charm — Tuck Jagadish, too, has its own significance. He is someone who likes to tuck his shirt neatly and perfectly. There’s no twist to it, no intercut, nor does he have a flashback or a backstory,” says Nani while mentioning that ‘Tuck Jagadish’ is a family drama with complexity.
“Director Shiva Nirvana gave a very peculiar characterisation to everyone. How deftly he moulded the characters in his earlier film ‘Ninnu Kori’! His strength lies in portraying family relationships,” he adds.
On reinventing self
The Natural Star feels his career graph has changed gradually. His recent films are an example of how he has been moving away from romcoms to something serious. “Back in my childhood, when my uncles were discussing acting, I heard my uncle saying, ‘actor can be defined by how well he makes audiences laugh and at the same time how well he makes us weep’. It struck me like a thunderbolt,” says Nani.
Audiences got to see films like ‘Ala Modalaindi’, ‘Pilla Zamindar’ ‘Bale Bale Magadivoy’ and how he emoted in comedies. “I felt I shouldn’t be sticking to one genre. Then, movies like ‘Ninnu Kori’ and ‘Jersey’ defined my career. Now, I can say I did justice to what my uncle mentioned during my childhood,” shares the actor, who assures fans that they would “see a new Nani in his upcoming films ‘Shyam Singha Roy’ and ‘Ante Sundaraniki'”.
“I am not a seasoned actor who would do a film in a year. There are no limitations if I act in films frequently. I would reinvent myself in every film that I chose; whether I failed or achieved box office success is all secondary,” he adds.
Letting go blockbusters
The ‘Eega’ actor had to let go of some scripts that went on to become blockbuster films later. “Some stories that I listened to were sure-shot blockbusters, but I politely denied them, passing them to actors who could do justice. But, filmmakers who narrated the scripts felt that I didn’t like the story.
No! I won’t do films just for the sake of superhits, I choose films for the excitement. There have been movies that were blockbusters. Some I just let go because of dates clashing. Film producers wouldn’t have wrapped up the projects on time if I kept them waiting.”
Big no to remakes
Nani says he wouldn’t feel the excitement and substance in the films that were already done in some language. “In the beginning of my career, I did ‘Bheemili Kabaddi Jattu’ and ‘Aaha Kalyanam’. I genuinely give some part of me to a story that excites me. My thought process doesn’t match with the process of remakes.
Right now, I am in this frame of mind. Remakes aren’t meant for me. Let Bollywood do my remakes (laughs). Six of my films including ‘Jersey’, ‘Hit:The First Case’, Ninnu Kori’ and others are being remade in different languages,” he shares.
‘Pan-India’ concept won’t last
The actor feels that the word pan-India would not exist in another two years. “Our choices and preferences have been changing in the entertainment market. The consumption of films has been completely changing with time. Take the example of ‘Money Heist’. The crime drama which was originally made in Spanish, has been dubbed into English. I would rather watch such a series in the original language with subtitles than watching it in English. Eventually, the line of pan-India will get blurred in the coming years. So, there will be more focus on the content rather than on language,” say the actor.
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