Balagam director's first love is acting

Despite scoring a massive hit ‘Balagam’ and getting offers to direct films, the actor-turned-director Venu Yeldandi is not in a mood to give up acting roles. He reveals this in a brief chit chat with BVS Prakash of Deccan Chronicle.

Do you agree that you started the trend of village-centric movies in T-town with ‘Balagam’?

I haven’t started any new trends, rather I think I have revived the genre since there was a small gap. Many filmmakers have made films with rural backdrops in the past. I adore village life so I weaved a story around it and the audience lapped it up in a big way.

Will you be dishing out more rural-centric movies?

I have no such plans. I have started working on a new script with the same team that worked with me for ‘Balagam’ and the backdrop will be decided once it is completed. I don’t differentiate between rural and urban stories, instead a good story is key.

We heard that you are looking to work with a big star?

I would love to make commercial movies with big stars, like any other director, but right now my focus is on writing an interesting script and approaching the appropriate cast after its completion. Meanwhile, I’ll be doing some interesting roles coming my way.

Haven’t you given up acting after becoming a director?

Oh God, No way. Acting remains my first love and I can never even imagine giving it up. I have done 200-odd films after debuting in 1999 and did some good roles and hoping to get more interesting roles to keep my career afloat.