Bollywood comedy king Johnny Lever’s daughter, Jamie, is all set to make her Tollywood debut in Allari Naresh’s ‘Aa Okati Adakku’. In an exclusive interview with Deccan Chronicle, the actor talks about why Brahmanandam is her favourite actor, live shows with her father and why dosa is a must in their everyday breakfast.
Your father Johnny Lever is so popular because of his Bollywood movies that not many know about his Telugu roots.
Yes. Not many people know that my father Johnny Lever is Telugu. People just assume that we are Maharashtrians or Catholics from Goa because we have curly hair and looks are very Goan. But we hail from Andhra. But my dad was born and raised in Mumbai. So we are pure Mumbaikars.
What language do you speak at home, what about the food?
Like I said, we are very much Telugu. We have strong Telugu roots. We converse in a mix of Telugu, Hindi and English at home. But usually when we have to share something in private, Telugu is a great language for that. Nobody has a clue about what we are talking about. Food is very much South Indian. Dosa is like a staple in my house—it's like idli, dosa is a must in our everyday breakfast. In fact, we experiment with healthy recipes like Quinoa dosa, millet dosa, and Pesarattu, which is made of moong and rich in protein.
What does your Telugu debut mean to you
My Telugu debut is a huge thing, something that I have honestly prayed for, from the beginning of my career—to be able to do at least one Telugu film. And the good thing is I didn't have to really approach anyone, it came organically. My director from the South happened to see my web series ‘Popcorn’, which did really well in the comedy genre. Allari Naresh Garu, who's known for his comedy film in the South, happened to watch it and told my director that he must approach me for this particular character. They had no idea about my film family background or whose daughter I was. They were pleasantly surprised to know that I'm Johnny Lever's daughter, and then they put two and two together and said, 'Oh! no wonder, she has these expressions!’. Also they were very happy to know that I know my mother tongue and speak the language too.
Tell us about your role in Aa Okati Adakku
I am playing the hero's sister-in-law in Aa Okati Adakku and the duo has a really fun kind of rapport and banter. They are like the Tom and Jerry of the house. The brief that was given to me was, 'Your relationship with the hero is like that of Tom and Jerry, always pulling each other's leg, making things difficult for each other, cute funny fights’. So that's the kind of relationship I have. It's a beautiful character. My director asked me to do some face yoga saying, ‘we want you to be super expressive, animated, and really fun’. So, I used to make sure that my face was stretched out when I went on set. I went all out in this film and I truly enjoyed playing this character. Her name is Devi and I hope everybody enjoys it.
Would you be dubbing your lines in Telugu yourself?
Ideally, I would like to dub it myself because I speak the language and throughout the making of the film, I did not take the help of any kind of prompting. Usually, non-Telugu speaking actors get someone to prompt the dialogues and they repeat it. But I used to learn my dialogues and go on set and it would take me longer than usual, but I never took any kind of prompting or help like that on set. In fact, a lot of times, my director would forget that I don't speak the language fluently. All my briefing and any kind of instructions were given to me in Telugu. So it was a big advantage for me that I understood the language.
Is there any Telugu movie you all watched together and liked?
Yes, there are several. My favorite actor is Brahmanandam garu and I have watched so many of his films. I also like Mahesh Babu, Prabhas and Ravi Teja. I really love Raviteja’s movies. I usually just pick out some Telugu comedy scenes on YouTube and watch. The last film I saw was ‘Hi Nanna’, which had Nani and absolutely loved it. There are a lot of Telugu films that I keep watching. One person I look up to is Brahmanandam garu and and I'm more than honored to have worked with Vennela Kishore also in my very first Telugu film. He’s a really popular comedy actor right now.
Who’s your favourite Tollywood actor and why?
Like I already said, my favorite Telugu actor is Brahmanandam garu. There are some very good actors. But I think when Raviteja does comedy, it’s just too hilarious. Vennela Kishore specializes in comedy too. These two actors are great.
Your father is synonymous with comedy, which genre would you like to establish yourself in?
I think unknowingly or knowingly, I have already entered the field of comedy as it comes naturally to me. And I really enjoy comedy. It is just organic, natural and has become my comfort zone right now. But I think I would want people to see me as an actor as well, which is why I would like to do more serious roles, and maybe something in a negative shade sometime in the future. Not at the moment right now. Every time I come on screen, people are just expecting comedy from me, and I don't want to disappoint them. So right now, I am just going to do what is asked of me. But someday, like Tom Hanks said, when he reached his level, reached the level where he was like, 'Okay, I've made it, I'm going to do whatever it is that I want to do,' he made serious films like Forrest Gump. So I think if I reach a level like that, where I feel okay, I have done enough, and I'll do my own thing, I’ll do that. Maybe if I get there someday, I would like to really experiment with some kind of naturalistic performances, maybe play a negative shade negative character, I would love to really challenge myself and put myself out there in those genres as well.
What next after this?
I am looking forward to my Telugu debut and intend to do lots of live shows this year. I will be traveling quite a bit and travelling with my dad as well on his Johnny Lever Live Crew. It's going to be a fun year with lots of travels. I'm just looking forward to all the madness as usual.
