'MY WIFE IS EXTREMELY STRICT...'

TELUGU SUPERSTAR ALLU ARJUN REVEALS HE'S A FAMILY MAN IN AN EXCLUSIVE CHAT WITH RAGHUVENDRA SINGH

- RAGHUVENDRA SINGH

His recent screen outing after two years, Trivkram Srinivas’ Ala Vaikunthapurramuloo, had fans thronging to the theatres. Garnering around 200 crores, it’s said to be Allu Arjun’s biggest hit so far. Unencumbered by the hysteria, the ‘Stylish Star’ is busy working on Sukumar’s tentatively titled Seshachalam based on the sandalwood mafia in Chittoor and Venu Sriram’s Icon, a romantic entertainer. Icon he truly is. Born in a film family, Arjun’s interface with the camera began as a baby in Chiranjeevi’s Vijetha. Meandering briefly towards animation as a youngster, he eventually returned home… to films, debuting with K. Raghavendra Rao’s Gangotri (2003). Since then the Bunny’s been unstoppable. Thanks to satellite and social media, his films and fame have reached the remotest corners of the world including the sandy ridges of the Middle East. His swagger and sex-appeal having a universal idiom . Grandson of actor Allu Rama Lingaiah, son of filmmaker Allu Aravind, nephew to Chiranjeevi and actor/filmmaker Pawan Kalyan, cousin of Ram Charan and older brother of Allu Sirish… Allu Arjun may belong to a film clan, but his charisma is his own.

Given the success ratio of your films, you seem to have cracked the secret of a blockbuster…

No one in the world knows the secret to a blockbuster. You just have to follow your gut feeling. Sometimes you’re wrong, sometimes you’re right. Generally, when you follow your heart, you end up being right.

Does it entail pressure to do better each time?

Absolutely. I make efforts to make every film, every performance better than the previous one. I push myself to the maximum limit. What is viewed as pressure is also a kind of pleasure. At the end of the day it’s only about enhancing yourself as an actor.