Save the girl now, world later: Nagarjuna

Nagarjuna’s 92nd film Soggade Chinni Nayana (SCN) released this week. The actor — who despite the incessant work pressure looks young enough to pass as his sons’ elder brother — took out time from his busy schedule for a candid chat.

Nagarjuna admits that he feels a sense of contentment at the way things are going for him and his sons, although the younger one’s debut film didn’t work at all.

“The elder one, Naga Chaitanya, is doing well. Even though the younger one, Akhil made the wrong choice for his debut film. People liked him, but they didn’t like the film at all. Akhil is too young to play a hero who saves the world. He should just concentrate on saving the girl right now,” he says.

The actor then shifts his attention to his much-anticipated film.
“By God’s grace, SCN has opened very well. I expect it to be one of the biggest hits  of my career. We timed it as a festive release to coincide with  Sankranti/Pongal when everyone is in the celebration mood.We were actually supposed to release the film last September. But when that didn’t happen we decided to wait for  Sankranti.”

The actor plays a double role in his new film. “It is the third double role of my career. I enjoyed playing the two characters in my new film. It was like doing two different films at one time,” he says.

Pleased with the response that the film has so far generated, Nag says that the success mantra is the film’s focus on rural India.

“We don’t get that many films sets in rural India any more. I ensured that SCN takes the audience back to the village. We wanted a plot and film that unfolded in the lush greenery. And looks like the change of location seems to have worked.”

Nag is also all praise for his co-star Ramya Krishnan. “This is our eighth film together. We came into the Telugu film industry together and we’ll probably leave together too. She and I share an excellent working relationship. Working with her was a pleasure.”