He is one of very few actors in recent times that did all of his films in all of the genres and completed 100 films landmark. His recent film ‘Sri Ramarajyam’ gave him good break after ‘Mahatma’. The actor is now ready with ‘Devaraya’ costarring Vidhisha and Meenakshi Dixit. Directed by Nani Krishna, ‘Devaraya’ will see the actor play a dual role – as Sri Krishna Devaraya and as Dorababu. Just before the release of this Sunray International Cinema’s (December 7), Srikanth spoke to the media today as part of movie promotion. Here are few excerpts:
Prior to ‘Devaraya’, diector Nani approached me with 3-4 stories. But when I gave him the idea to think different, he had greatlyimpressed me with his brilliant narration of this story on the backdrop of Sri Krishna Devarayalu. After finalizing this script he worked very hard to develop it into a wonderful story. Later we did a photo shoot and decided to proceed with the project after we got fully
satisfiedwith it.
To do the mythological role Devaraya, I did quite a lot of home work to maintain the right body-language. I read some books which have detailed knowledge of Sri Krishna Devarayalu. I even watched few mythological films of N T Rama Rao garu and Nageswara Rao garu and observed how they carried themselves in those characters.
We started off the shooting with the role of Devaraya and I felt comfortable trying to take on the challenge of playing the role within four days. But it would take more than 2 hours for the make-up artists to apply the make-up for that character. One should watch the film to know how our director Nani Krishna designed this character that always thinks about the people’s welfare. Meenakshi Dixit played the dancer in the King’s durbar. The other character which I played in the film is Dorababu, a carefree guy who enjoys life with his friends.
Putting aside the box-office results, as far as my performance is concerned, I can confidently say that I did cent percent justice to the role of Devaraya. No one will comment on my performance after watching the film. It was very clear that this was the way the director wanted, so I ensured that I perform how he wanted the character Devaraya to be played. This movie would surely be a milestone in my career.
One should have experience and patience to deal with this kind of story. Nani was very confident about the story right from the beginning of this project and went ahead with the same confidence. This is a phenomenal directing debut from Nani Krishna. He has a bright future ahead.
I did lot of rehearsals before the actual dubbing started. So it has helped me while delivering the dialogues. My confidence grew after I completed my dubbing work. I’ve learned so much through this film.
Highlights in this movie are songs and background score. Chakri gave life to the film through his music. There was tremendous responsefor the songs. Similarly Veera Babu penned fantastic dialogues. Poorna’s rich cinematography is yet another highlight besides graphics. At the same time graphics was aptly designed as per the requirement only. A fight scene between Bahumani Sultan and Devaraya was choreographed extraordinarily by fight master Ravi. Overall it’s a wholesome entertainer to the audience.
Apart from ‘Devaraya’, I’ve two more films on hand ‘Sevakudu’ and ‘Anucharudu’ which are ready for release. Shooting of ‘Shadow’ will progress till March next year. Other films which I’m doing as solo hero will also be completed soon. Besides that, my new film under the direction of Dwarapudi is going to be launched on 18th of December and another movie under E Satti Babu’s direction will also hit floors shortly.
I’m very happy that my brother Anil is also associated with this film. ‘Devaraya’ is the second highest budget movie after ‘Mahatma’ in my career. Expectations are high on this film. Hence producers have planned for a grand release with about 120 theaters in Nizam area alone. ‘Devaraya’ is releasing on December 7th. So I hope the audience will watch and enjoy it thoroughly.
