It has been 25 years since Victory Venkatesh entered the Telugu Film Industry. And what a glorious 25 years they have been. He made us laugh, he made us cry. He fought the bad guys, saved damsels in distress and every once in a while, played a social reformer. Whatever the role, Venkatesh lived it.
In a session held at Ramanaidu Studios, Venkatesh interacted with the press and spoke about his life and career. The actor was at his humorous best and spoke with a lot of clarity about what he wants to do with his life.
Some excerpts
โI thank all my Producers, Directors, members of production teams, my Fans and members of the press for being with me during these 25 years. I would not have been here without you. Every single one of you has contributed to my success.โ
โI am very fortunate because people accepted me in my first film itself. Otherwise, I would not have been very interested. The love and acceptance convinced me that this is where I belong. Fans have always encouraged me very well. My fans are different from other regular fans because they are not very particular about records. That has helped me a lot.โ
Q. What are your future Projects?
A) โI will soon do a film with Mahesh Babu. Both of us have decided on it. We are yet to finalize a few small things and the announcement will be made once its done. I will be doing a film with Dasarath soon.โ
Q. How is it that you have always been lucky with the media?
A) Laughs. โI respected all of you and I have always maintained a healthy relationship with everyone. I never hurt any of you knowingly so I guess thats why all of you treated me so well.โ
Q.Do you have any particular dream roles?
A) I am 50 years old now. I want to experiment. I would like to portray more mature characters. I know that my best is yet to come. You have not seen what I am truly capable of and I am waiting for the right scripts and directors to bring that out in me. I will even do a villain role if the script excites me.
Q. Why are Telugu Films lagging behind Tamil and Hindi films?
A). We are not lagging behind. Our heroes are on par with any industry. Especially the youngsters. They have such prodigious talent and look at how well they are dancing. We just need more talent in the form of directors and script writers. We need directors who can challenge convention. Slowly things are changing.
We are getting new people and some ideas are promising.
Ramanaidu Film School and Annapoorna Film School are steps in that direction. They are investments for the future of our cinema. It is just a matter of time before our films eclipse films from the south as well as from Bollywood.
Q. What was the most important thing you learnt from your dad?
A. I learnt the importance of being positive. We should never dwell on our achievements or our failures for too long. We should just move on. My dad has also taught me the importance of being friendly and helpful. I am fortunate to have had someone like him as my dad.
Q. What about Vivekananda?
A. Vivekananda is going to happen for sure. The movie will start in October 2012 and I am yet to finalize the director. The announcement will be made after everything is concrete. But I will do the film for sure.
Q. What are the major highs and lows of your career?
A. I dont consider them to be highs and lows. Everything happens for a reason. Sometimes, we look for things which arent suitable for us and sometimes, things which are suitable come looking for us. I was supposed to do Maniratnamโs Roja. After everything was finalized, I was injured and that put me out of action for a while. As a result, the role went to Aravind Swamy.
But because of that injury, I was able to focus on scripts like Suryavamsham etc. So I have no regrets.
Q. Bodyguard is a remake. Anything to say about that?
A. There is freshness in the way the movie is going to be shown. The love story is also unique and I have thoroughly enjoyed doing the movie. I am sure the audience will appreciate me for the role.
Q. When will your National Award come?
A. Laughs. โ I dont plan for awards. That is not my style.They will come if they have to come and when they have to come.โ
And the versatile actor signed off by saying โThe Telugu Film Industry has the best fans when compared to all other industries. We are Lucky.โ
We wish Victory Venkatesh the very best and hope he continues to rock for the next 25 years as well.