'Soggade Chinni Nayana' will see me explore a village subject after a decade, says Nagarjuna

Nagarjuna comes from the renowned Akkineni family and his two sons - Naga Chaitanya and Akhil Akkineni - are leading actors themselves in Tollywood. The actor will next be seen in debutant director Kalyan Krishna's Soggade Chinni Nayana. The movie is produced by Nagarjuna as well and has Ramya Krishnan and Lavanya Tripathi as the leading ladies. In an exclusive chat with dna, the Tollywood star talks about the movie, his sons and more.

You’ve had a film release every year of your career except 2015.

While I didn’t have a film release, 2015 was one of the busiest years I have ever had! I was shooting for the Telugu version of Kaun Banega Crorepati (KBC). The first season of Meelo Evaru Koteeswarudu had become a superhit and I shot for the second season in 2015. There is a clause that when the Hindi Kaun Banega Crorepati is on, the regional shows can’t be aired, so we had to take a break. I was shooting Soggade Chinni Nayana. Then I started shooting for the Telugu-Tamil bilingual Oopiri (Thozha in Tamil) with Karthi as well. So it was a very busy year for me.

Nagarjuna with Lavanya Tripathi in the film

The director of Soggade Chinni Nayana, Kalyan Krishna, is a debutant.

I have worked with a lot of debutant directors in my films. I like working with young, new people as you get fresh ideas. I like to know how the youth of today thinks. The average age of the theatre-goer today is 25 so we need to cater to them. I am not just an actor but I get involved in every aspect of the film. The movie has come out well.

You’ve gone back to a village-based subject after a decade.

There were shades of village life in Manam and that’s when I thought why not do a completely village-based subject? I really liked the rural elements when I did that film. It was fresh and I thought it would also be new for the audience – they would get to see a new, yet traditional lifestyle, something fresh and interesting.

Do you like the supernatural genre?

Yes, I do. It’s one of my favourite genres. Even in Manam, there was that element of a ghost. In our culture, we have always had this belief in the supernatural and rebirth and so on. I’ve grown up listening to stories where ghosts come to help people. The supernatural here is in a good, positive sense. I don’t like horror. 

Nagarjuna with his sons Naga Chaitanya (left) and Akhil Akkineni (right)

At the age of 56, you're a good looking, fit star. How do you maintain your popularity?

I keep reinventing myself for the audience. I try to choose roles that they would like to see me in. Like in Oopiri, which is a remake of the French film Untouchables, I play a character who is in a wheelchair. A lot of people asked me why I chose that film and role but it's a fun film; it's not morose. People will enjoy it. So I try to do roles that are different.

Would you like to do a film with your sons Naga Chaitanya and Akhil?

I’d love to! In fact in Manam, we had Akkineni Nageswara Rao, Naga Chaitanya, Akhil and myself. But then we should get a fantastic script like how I did in Manam. Only then I’d do that. We can’t force ourselves to do a film together for the sake of it.

What advice did you give Naga Chaitanya and Akhil when they stepped into films?

I told them to follow their sensibilities and not to follow someone else’s sensibilities. It took me eight or nine films before I did that and discovered myself. My older son, Naga Chaitanya, is following his sensibilities but Akhil did not. (Laughs). Akhil told me, “Nana, now I know what you meant.” (Laughs).