How did you become a part of the cast of KGF: Chapter 2?
KGF: Chapter 1 had only one shot of Adheera which she shot as a silhouette. For the second chapter, he reached out to me through a family friend. Friend contacted my wife. My wife had watched KGF: Chapter 1. He told me it is an interesting character and you should do it. Then I watched KGF: Chapter 1 and loved it.
He narrated the film and I said yes. Then director Prashant and the team worked on my look as Adheera. The journey with Adheera has been great for me. Because from where I entered the industry – playing an action hero in larger-than-life films – I got a chance to go back to that territory with Adheera and KGF: Chapter 2.
Do you think South Industry is achieving huge box office success due to these big ticket movies full of action and heroism?
I think the Hindi film industry has forgotten larger than life heroism. But the southern industry did not forget the heroism. I am not saying that slice-of-life movies or rom-coms are bad. But why have we forgotten our audience Uttar PradeshBihar, Jharkhand, Rajasthan Rajasthan who make up a large segment of our audience. I hope this trend will come back in Hindi film industry. Earlier we had separate producers and financiers which have been wiped out by the corporatisation of film studios. Corporatization is good, but it should not hinder our taste in films.
See, for example, SS Rajamouli has his own definite producer, who has full faith in his vision. We were accompanied by producers like Gulshan Rai, Yash Chopra, Subhash Ghai and Yash Johar. Look at the movies he has made. In the south they see the script on paper, here they see the recovery figures on paper.
There is bound to be a comparison between Kancha Cheena and Adheera from Agneepath as both the characters are larger than life. But from your perspective, how different is Adheera from Kancha Cheena?
Purpose is same. Kancha wanted Mandwa. Adheera needs KGF. But the character, look and feel are different. Adheera is a big character in itself, not taking anything away from Kancha.
Looks like you have a devoted fan following even in the capital of Kannada cinema. A few years back, things got out of hand during your visit to a gym in Bangalore. Do you remember that incident?
I was invited to the opening of a gym. A large number of fans were present at the event and doors and shutters were smashed. All this happened only because those fans got a glimpse of me or got a chance to meet me.