Ads got me movie roles: Chetan

Chetan, who is debuting in Tollywood with Mantra 2, was a known face by the time he entered films, thanks to his commercials. He says that despite debuting with Tamil films, he is a Telugu boy. His mother is from Amalapuram and father is from Khammam.

“When I was four years old, our family shifted to Chennai from Amalapuram as my father used to work for the magazine Chandamama, which is from Chennai,” says Chetan.

While in Chennai, he was picked by director Mani Ratnam’s team, who were searching for a kid to play a rival opposite Tarun. After that, he acted in a few films as a child artiste before completing his graduation.

He also joined an acting school in Pune and then went to Mumbai. “In Mumbai, I got the chance to act in some very good commercials, which became instant hits,” says Chetan. It was the Garnier advertisement that made Chetan a familiar face.

After seeing his face in ads, director P. Vasu introduced him to Tamil cinema. Since then, he has acted in five Tamil films. “Now, I am part of a prestigious Tamil film, where I am playing a young Gemini Ganesan. This film is a biopic on the legendary actor and his daughter is producing it,” says Chetan. The film is almost complete and ready for release.

Despite success in Tamil, Chetan wanted to prove himself in Telugu too. “Many of my relatives and friends kept asking me why I was not doing Telugu films. It was then that I got to play the lead in Mantra 2,” he says.

Here too, it was his ads that got him the break. “Yes, they saw my advertisements and contacted me. That’s how I landed in this project,” he says.

He adds that the film is a thriller. “But it is not a sequel to Mantra. We have only taken the title, but the subject is completely different. I am playing a cop,” he says. This film is also releasing in Tamil as Chetan is also known to the Tamil audience.

He has also signed two more Telugu films. “I am focusing more on Telugu now. I want to settle in Hyderabad and prove myself here,” says Chetan.