Telugu actor Adivi Sesh on Hindi debut ‘Major’: It’s an Indian movie

You always hope to tell a good story and I think Major Sandeep's story for me demanded that it be told to everybody. It shouldn't be a Telugu language or Malayalam language story.

Hyderabad: Telugu actor Adivi Sesh is currently shooting for the bilingual film “Major”, a film inspired by the life of 26/11 martyr Sandeep Unnikrishnan. The film, being made in Hindi and Telugu, will mark the actor’s entry in the Hindi speaking market. Adivi tells you its is a pan-Indian film in true sense.

“You always hope to tell a good story and I think Major Sandeep’s story for me demanded that it be told to everybody. It shouldn’t be a Telugu language or Malayalam language story. The fact of the matter is that he was a veteran of the Kargil war, he served in Hyderabad, he grew up in Bangalore, he is from Kerala. Is there anything more pan-Indian than that? We want people from everywhere to watch his story. Beyond that I don’t have a sense of trying to think about whether I am entering the Hindi industry or not, because in my mind it’s an Indian movie,” Adivi told IANS.

The actor is also the writer of the film and he did intensive research to understand the life of Major Sandeep.

“There was a lot of interaction with his parents. They had become like my second parents. I talk to them on the phone a lot even now. Whenever I have a doubt in a scene, I just talk to them and talk to them. In addition, I did the obligatory speaking to the army, his colleagues and friends,” he said.

The actor also talked about a strange coincidence that helped him write the scenes.

“I came across the nephew of Major Sandeep’s parents — Mrinal, an NRI who is sort of raised by Major Sandeep. He runs an Instagram account and all he does is he puts up old, unseen photographs of Sandeep. Getting a daily dose of photographs inspired me to write the scenes. I see the photograph and do research on it,” the actor shared.

The film is produced by Mahesh Babu’s GMB Entertainment and A+S movies and directed by Sashi Kiran Tikka.

Did playing the character have an emotional impact on him? “I can’t begin to express the number of times I felt so many emotions while doing this character and I am not even done shooting yet. What’s beautiful is that he was extremely real, fun loving person. He was always cracking jokes to ensure people don’t feel low around him. So, that kind of seeps into your character when by default, you end up making other people smile. Without realising that ends up changing your own mood for the day. I guess I am just glad that he can make me smile from beyond,” shared the actor, who will also be seen in “Goodachari 2”.