Ram Charan Teja, who was apprehensive to step into the shoes of Amitabh Bachchan in the remake of 1973 hit Zanjeer, says that he is not expecting too much from the movie. Ram hopes he gets 10 per cent of what Bachchan got from this film.
“I don’t expect too much. It was intimidating, to get into role of Big B for this film. There was a bit of pressure and it was difficult to handle. In a way when you take up a film like this, a certain amount of pressure should be there as it makes you more serious, disciplined and responsible. It worked to my advantage,” Ram says.
Amitabh’s role as Vijay Khanna, an aggressive cop, acquired cult status and established him as the angry young man of Bollywood, giving him his first blockbuster. The Telugu actor also happened to meet the 70-year-old superstar on the first day of his shoot for the film, helmed by Apoorva Lakhia.
“It was a coincidence that I happened to meet him (Bachchan) on the first day as we were shooting in the same location. I was quite scared as I was playing his character. I had no clue how he would react, but he was calm and cool,” says Ram.
“Those blessings gave us energy to perform better. I did not ask for any suggestions or ideas. I wish he could have given some but he is not that kind of a person to share his knowledge. He wished us good luck,” the 28-year-old adds. There were reports that Zanjeer is facing some issues in Telangana. But the actor rubbishes it all.
“We are all set. Everything is fine. There is a bit of anguish in the state. We hope things get resolved soon but I don’t think it will affect the release,” he states.