'I am not comfortable kissing on screen'

Exploring genres

Actor Chiranjeevi Sarja has been receiving a lot of accolades for his film Chandralekha, which released recently. His rugged look in the intense love story is what is getting him rave reviews.

Chiranjeevi says that he was supposed to portray extreme emotions — from happiness to anger and revenge in the film. “I keep changing my looks for every film. And, in this film I’ve gone with a messy look. This natural feel helps me connect with my audience better. It is a little unnatural to be perfect,” he says.

He again appears as a die-hard romantic in ‘Ajit’, which is up for release this month. Talking about ‘Ajit’, he says that although it is a remake, the Kannada version has been tweaked to suit local tastes. “There are a lot of changes from the original. We’ve worked around the main character and made him more lively than what he was in the original version. I am sure people will love it,” he adds.

The theme of love has been given a different twist. “I fall in love with a girl at first sight. However, he doesn’t reveal his feelings to the girl until the end of the film. It’s a commercial film with loads of mind-blowing action sequences,” he explains. Chiranjeevi thinks that love at first sight is a debatable issue. “Love can happen to anyone, anytime. For some, it is instantaneous and others may find love late in life,” he reasons. 

But ask him if he is comfortable doing intimate scenes on screen and he says, “I made up my mind not to do lip-locking scenes after Varadhanayaka. I would rather explore my talent in dancing or in doing action
sequences. I am not comfortable kissing on screen.”

The actor confesses that every new project teaches him something new but his experience in his debut project Vayuputra is invaluable and he saw himself doing things he never imagined he would be doing in Varadhanayaka.

In a short span, Chiranjeevi has acted with some of the biggest names in the Kannada film industry and this, he says, has taught him how to conduct himself in different
situations. “You learn how to behave in the company of senior artistes. When I acted with Ramya for the first time, I was nervous but soon that nervousness turned into a friendly atmosphere. She didn’t have any air about herself. In fact, she taught me a lot,” he recollects. 

Chiranjeevi often gets compared to his uncle Arjun Sarja who has delivered innumerable hits in almost all the languages. That must be a huge advantage? “I have an excellent guide in my uncle but I have to work extra hard to live up to the standard set by him and my family,” he states.

Chiranjeevi’s family has a history of love marriages. Would he also find his own match? “I am not seeing anybody and I am not ready to get into a relationship just yet. Marriage will happen at its pace,” he signs off.