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He is the apple of his uncle’s eyes, has an artistic pedigree and family backing. Days before his debut, Chiranjeevi Sarja says that though he is confident about his movie, yet like any newcomer has butterflies in his stomach.
Being the third generation in the family to enter movies, Chiranjeevi was introduced to the film life in childhood itself. “Since I was in boarding school during my holidays my uncles used to take me to the locations to watch the shoot. That’s when I knew that this is where I wanted to be,” says Chiranjeevi. From then on, his only aim was to face the camera but it was surely not a day’s job. The enthusiasm led him to go for a formal training in Mumbai where he learnt to value time, money, friends and family.
But it was only back home that his uncle, Arjun Sarja, showed him the practical side of film-making. “My uncle always told me that to be a good actor one must know how to dub really well and understand the technical side of making movies. That way one knows how to face the camera correctly,” explains Chiranjeevi.
Gradually, Chiranjeevi trained under his uncle and worked as an assistant director and did a bit of production work. “We didn’t want to compromise on anything before my debut. After all, you get just one opportunity to make your debut and make that first impression on the audience,” he adds.
Vaayu Putra happened when Chiranjeevi came across a Tamil movie, Sanda Kozhi. Having liked the subject he showed it to his uncle Kishore Sarja, “The main task was however to convince my other uncle, Arjun. The rest is history,” he adds. But wasn’t he little sceptical about making a debut with a remake? “There is nothing wrong with remakes because what matters is the screenplay. I know I can carry off the character and we are all extremely confident of the subject,” he adds.
As for the making of the movie, Chiranjeevi has one word to describe it, “Mind-boggling”. “Since it was an in-house production it was like home for me and even the co-stars were all like a family. I remember joking around with Ambareesh sir. The fight scenes in the mud was fun and we were almost freezing during the shoot,” he recollects.
Though there are a lot of similarities between him and Arjun, Chiranjeevi promises that on screen the audience will see them as individuals in their own right. “Arjun is a fabulous and polished actor. People will obviously come with expectations and it will be tough to live up to that but I promise they will not be disappointed,” he concludes.