Telugu actor Satyadev has gathered a good following, especially over the past year, with his work in Telugu films getting commercial and critical acclaim. Now, he gears up with his Bollywood debut in the Akshay Kumar-starrer “Ram Setu”, and he says exploring Hindi films was always on his mind.
While he is tigh-tlipped about his character, Satyadev is comfortable giving the backstory on how the big-budget Hindi project came his way.
“It came out of nowhere. I had not even put my profile up there, and it landed in my lap. It’s a very good role. Few things happen and we don’t even realise that it’s happening and that is how my Bollywood debut happened. I would say this is the best Bollywood debut in terms of where I am placed. I see this as the best opportunity to explore Hindi cinema,” he tells IANS.
The actor adds: “It was always part of the plan. I really wanted to explore Hindi cinema and, in fact, all languages. That is how I look at things and Hindi was definitely on my plate. To be honest, I personally feel that things happen to you because you have a thought somewhere lingering around to get them. My predominant thought was always exploring bigger markets, different films in Malayalam, Telugu, Hindi, and Kannada. Hindi was always there in my mind.”
While Wikipedia mentions another Hindi film as his debut, the actor clarifies that Abhishek Sharma’s “Ram Setu” is his first. However, he gives away a bit of trivia about another project, which could have been his Hindi debut.
“I have done a film in Afghanistan and that should have been my Hindi debut but unfortunately the film got stalled. Now I am happy that it is going to be ‘Ram Setu’,” he says.
Satyadev has wrapped up the shooting of his next Telugu film “Thimmarusu” and is gearing up for its release, whereas he is midway with the shoot of “Godse”.
The actor wants the world to watch his films, as he says: “Any actor you ask, they would love to be part of films that entire India would watch, be it Telugu film or any film. You want people to watch your work. As an actor, you want people to recognise the work you are doing. It gives you the satisfaction that ‘my film is being watched by so many people’. I would not call my work to be pan-Indian but would rather want the entire world to watch it.”
However, he is aware of the change the film industries across India are undergoing.
“Thanks to ‘Baahubali’, and some other films, I can think of why the pan-Indian film happened. Earlier dubs were happening but now people are making sure that they are specifically making it for other languages as well. They are creating sets to match other languages as well. Earlier it used to be only Tamil and Telugu. The actors used to never talk in Telugu but the ambiance would be familiar,” says Satyadev.
