'Lavanya is always calm and composed'

Varun Tej is all smiles as he looks forward to his approaching wedding to Lavanya Tripathi in November. When we mention Italy as the venue of the destination wedding, he says, “Italy? That’s just one of the options. We haven’t finalised the venue yet,” adding that discussions on logistics are in progress.

Varun and Lavanya were seeing each other for six years before getting engaged in June this year. He feels he’s now of an age to get married. “I am thrilled to have met the right person (Lavanya) at the right time,” he says. “Lavanya is more like a friend. I believe your companion should be your best friend, and I am glad that she has been there for me at all times, trying to understand me.  

So who made the first move? Your or Lavanya? “Obviously it was me,” grins Varun. “I thought it was time to take our relationship to the next level. And she agreed, much to my delight.”

What are the qualities he specially likes about Lavanya, we ask. “Oh, there are so many,” he says. “She’s always calm and composed — that’s amazing to me. And that aspect of her has rubbed off on me and made me more mature and wiser. The beauty of our relationship is that it’s always been steady and balanced. Lavanya keeps it stable.” Varun is also excited about something else — his  upcoming film, Gandeevadhari Arjuna. He says that the Praveen Sattaru directorial, an action drama, focuses on climate change and global warming. “When I got the opportunity to be part of a film that addresses this burning issue I felt it was my responsibility to do my bit,” he shares. The film made him socially conscious, the actor says, adding, “Not that I wasn’t earlier, but I started to be more attentive to things like the use of plastic. I am trying to incorporate small changes into my life.”

The film was shot in Europe and there have been rumours that the film was over budget. But Varun vehemently denies these reports. “For a film of such a scale, it was great that we were able to shoot it in 55 days. We had to endure very cold weather in Europe to ensure that the film was shot within the time and budget,” he clarifies.

In fact, the weather was so cold that at one point Varun came close to suffering hypothermia. “Not just me, the entire unit was working in freezing rain and cold for 12 hours continuously. Our feet literally became numb,” the actor recalls, reminiscing that there were no caravans or change rooms they could use for short breaks during shooting.

Varun, who earlier trained for his role as a boxer in Ghani, underwent extensive training for his role as a bodyguard in Gandeevadhari Arjuna. He even did several risky action sequences. “My work for Ghani actually made it easier for me in this film,” he comments.  “When I was training with the stuntmen in Hungary, they were surprised by my toned body,” he reveals with a smile. “They asked if I was a boxer. I told them I was not, but that I had trained to play one in a film. So my earlier work on fitness came in handy.”

Gandeevadhari Arjuna is aimed at youngsters. “For Ghani what went wrong was that we did not target a specific audience; we wanted the film to be generic. But for this film, we are clear about where to pitch,” says Varun.

There were also rumours that the actor and director took a 50 percent pay cut for the film. Vaurn says it’s the quality of the film that is of prime importance in lavish movies such as this. “We did not compromise,” he stresses, adding, “We always want producers to make money so that they can make another film. That way, we can build an ecosystem of constant cash flow.”