Siddhartha returns to Telugu cinema after eight years with ‘Maha Samudram’, through which he hopes to break the image of a lover boy
In a light-hearted manner, during this interview in Hyderabad, actor Siddharth remarked that Sharwanand is the primary star of director Ajay Bhupathi’s Telugu film. Maha Samudram, releasing on 14 October. Without the box office pressure directly on his shoulders, Sidharth says he is happy to be a part of the film for its story and the love of his character. Beneath the discussion of how distributors view the film is the fact that Maha Samudram After eight years, Siddharth has returned to Telugu cinema.
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He was last seen in Telugu cinema in 2013 (Awesome and a cameo King), if one ignores movies dubbed from Tamil. Ajay Bhupathi approached Siddharth Maha Samudram In 2019, Vizag with a story and a bigger canvas, which Siddharth compared to mainstream films of the 1980s and 90s – “the kind of films Rahul Rawail, Subhash Ghai or Mukul Anand did in Hindi.”
the two trailers Maha Samudram Don’t give in to the story, but offer glimpses of Sharwanand and Siddharth in different time periods with Aditi Rao Hydari and Anu Emmanuel. Siddharth’s knowledge of port cities and his on-the-ground understanding of Vizag while working in other films placed him in a good position to film. “I spent a lot of time in Vizag, picking up on its core slang and eating out at some of the best places and trying street food. Somebody asked me if I was the good guy or the bad guy in the movie; I don’t have the answer. I liked the complexity of the character. It gave me a chance to work with incredible actors like Rao Ramesh, Jagapathi Babu and Aditi Rao Hydari. It is Aditi’s film and she plays her part with dignity. Many mainstream films treat women as vanity props; This is not one of them.”
rough and tough
Siddhartha, Aditi Rao Hydari and Sharvananda in Maha Samudram
Siddhartha is sure that Maha Samudram Breaking the image of the previous lover boy, will reintroduce him to the Telugu audience. He says, Ajay Bhupathi encouraged him to play a “tough and tough guy”. “Ajay Ram is Gopal Varma’s protégé and he has that chutzpah along with his sensibilities. He is a practical director. I like to prepare before going for a scene, but Ajay liked the fresh approach without rehearsals.”
In the mid-2000s, Siddharth had become a household name after blockbuster films like Nuvvostanante nenoddantana And bommarilu. After rom-coms and dramas, he got the tag of ‘chocolate boy’. Did he move away from Telugu cinema to break free from that image? “A lot of things were happening in my life and career 10 years ago that I was clearly not satisfied with.”
Siddharth tells about his journey boys (2003; Tamil film received better in Telugu) and later enjoyed stardom with memorable films in Tamil, Telugu, Hindi (rang De Basanti) and English (midnight kids): “I became a star at a young age. In Telugu, I became known for a certain kind of films. I could see the next 20 years flash before my eyes. Maybe I would have accepted the roles that were offered to me and made money. But, if job security was everything I wanted, I would have chosen a corporate career.”
Where is the challenge?
Siddhartha
Whispering, he decided to back down. “I wanted to prove that I could do films in which I didn’t have to do the same kinds of roles. I loved watching people; I got interested in people who were broken, playing brown characters. Wanted… if I go on a film set without any challenges, what’s the point?
In his years away from Telugu cinema, he has achieved heights like jigarthanda Outing in Tamil and in Malayalam (kamara sambhayam) “I learned and spoke Malayalam. Speaking a new language may not be a big deal to someone else, but it matters to me and challenges me. I didn’t know a word of Malayalam like I didn’t know Telugu before Nuvastanante…”
He turned producer and co-wrote the horror film Avala (house in Telugu). Post Maha Samudram, he is keen to announce his new films in both Tamil and Telugu. “I’ve always enjoyed doing what excites me, rather than what others think I should do.”
In Telugu film circles, there used to be a joke that Sidharth can play the role of a college student at any age and not look out of place. However, the actor doesn’t think much about it: “I never considered myself to be good looking. I did not look in the mirror before coming here for the interview. I do not have a stylist to prepare me for the interview. I’m wearing a T-shirt I bought from a label I saw on Instagram, who were donating some of the proceeds to a cause. In this industry, you shouldn’t wear the same clothes twice, which I don’t understand.”
new sounds
Siddharth observed that over the years, Telugu cinema has gone through a major transformation, with larger than life bahubali Emerging filmmakers with new voices on one end and new voices on the other. he mentions care for kancharapalem (Director Venkatesh Maha), E-Nagraniki Amandy (Tharun Bhaskar) and brochevreverura (Vivek Atreya) One of the films he enjoyed watching. He is now keen to explore new collaborations, acting in or producing Telugu films.
In addition to acting, writing and producing, Siddhartha is on a learning curve, studying music theory, reviewing Hindustani and Carnatic music, and reading Tamil literature: “I have also learned sound engineering. If I have to make contact with international technicians, I want to be in a place where I understand what they are talking about. As an actor, we get paid well once we fall in a certain bracket. So why not use it to propel the craft?”
Away from cinema, he says he enjoys spending time with family and his pets. Sidharth’s tweets remain in the news for being anti-incumbency but the actor underlined that he has always spoken his mind: “I have been a public speaker since the age of eight. I spoke against Tamil Nadu government when Kamal Haasan faced trouble at the time of release Vishwaroopam. I have always been against the tendency of great sin. I prefer to speak up and hate the other way around to do what feels right to me. I have no black money, nothing to hide and I am not afraid.
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