Ahead of the OTT streaming of 'Parampara 2' (web series) on Disney+Hotstar from July 21, actor Naveen Chandra takes stock of his career. He is in a happy space. Listen to him talk about his career and his upcoming projects.
I am today in a space I have always wanted to. I have successfully preempted being typecast. I am playing all sorts of roles.
Coming to 'Parampara 2', stronger characters strengthen the story. There are six main characters in the series. Coming to my character, he behaves differently in the presence of different people in the film. He is a layered character.
The first season was loved by the viewers. Although it took me time to realize how successful the series was, I am assured that the viewers loved the content as well as my performance in it. The budget spent on the show is also high. Somehow, producer Shobu Yarlagadda garu felt that I am the right person for the character. I feel lucky about the same.
The content brought out by both Arka Media and Disney+Hotstar has always been unique. It was a wait of 10 years. I had been wanting to do good roles back to back. More than star image, more than being called a star hero, I want to be appreciated for the importance my performance/character has in a film. Both 'Ghani' and 'Virata Parvam' fall into this category.
I am sitting here today because of 'Andala Rakshasi'. And 'Aravindha Sametha' was a turning point. In this regard, I owe it to Tarak garu for lauding my performance in 'AS'. It helped me getting noticed more than before. Directors and writers started noticing my talent more.
If a story has believability and the character is well-etched, the audience are going to like it. I can give my best, it all depends on the director and production house as to how the product is presented.
Seventy percent of the audience are always satisfied with what I do, but the rest of them expect more from me.
Every day, I sit on the scripts for one hour. If I am working on a film in a week, I completely focus on that particular script for the whole work. I do a lot of homework because a lot of money is invested in my face also. I spend time with my directors so as to know what exactly they want from me.
'Andala Rakshasi' has fetched me the maximum amount of love and affection. Someone from Bollywood approached me with an offer only because of that movie. That film didn't do well at the box office, but it instilled confidence in me that I can act.
Upcoming projects:
'Ammu' (an Amazon Prime original), a UV Concepts feature film, a Telugu-Tamil bilingual project, is one of my upcoming projects. I am doing a film under the direction of Srikanth Nagothi of 'Bhanumathi Ramakrishna' fame. FTII alumni from different parts of the country are working on the film. The technical output is going to be superb. Ram Charan-Shankar's movie is there. Nandamuri Balakrishna garu's 107th movie has me in a nice role. It's a never-before experience working with him.
