Y. Sunita Chowdhary
An actor needs to have patience and perseverance to sustain, more so when he or she does not have a Godfather in the industry. Learning and unlearning is a continuous process that is crucial to equip yourself for every new film and every new character you portray on the screen. Chaitanya showed inclination and his seriousness to pick up acting as his career even while he was a child and has been learning ever since. His debut film came late but for all the wait, he bagged a best role and he cannot agree more.
Chaitanya Garikipati is from Avanigadda, he studied architecture in JNTU, Masab Tank. As a child, when he was in the 8th class, he participated in mono acting competitions in regional and district levels and most of the dialogues were from the scenes in mythological dramas. ”It was a seven minute dialogue and I did it with all the heavy ornaments etc. With the make-up and all the accompaniments, people couldn’t make out the real me. I would nevertheless enjoy the talk surrounding me on my return journey. I soaked in the compliments and didn’t know whom to share my happiness with. The college would seem like an amusement park, classes would be held but not the regular number leaving us with a lot of free time,” recollects Chaitanya.
Chaitanya was working as an architect for a company and he also moved around with his friend who was working as an AD in Pelli Chupulu. He did a couple of web series and after a year, he quit the job and began giving auditions and bagged a small role in Pelli Chupulu. He shares, “I would attend auditions even while I was in the village. The only work I did was three web series out of which two released. Post that I auditioned for this, it has been close to two and a half years since the process of this film making began. I never came here expecting people will wait for me with acting offers. Everyone has ups and downs and I am aware of that. I knew nothing would move briskly. In the first year, I never expected people to receive me with open arms. I was prepared for everything and was damn sure I would be called for auditions. Leaving a job was a tough decision, there are no ready-made jobs waiting for us here. We have to crack audition calls; earlier not many people knew, now at least 1500 people turn up. We don’t have time to crack auditions, it all happens in an hour. Around 170 people were auditioned for Beyond Break Up.”
He further states, “We won’t have much time to prepare during an audition, in max five to fifteen minutes we have to memorise the dialogue and get into the skin of the character. Due to the basics learnt in childhood and what I picked up from stage dramas and online classes of Kevin Spacey and Morgan Freeman, I was a bit comfortable. I didn’t seek admission in local theatre groups while studying because I couldn’t accumulate money. I am always an extrovert and was blessed enough to grasp all this fast from the school level.These days we get to see super hit shows on OTT and we learn a lot by observing them too. Thankfully, the industry is evolving and it is a lot more welcoming and accepting, the audience is acknowledging the presence of new talent.”
“I have been giving auditions for four years, that is since I quit my job. I quit because I wanted to get into films seriously, started changing myself slowly one step at a time. This time I lost weight. Acting is a learning process, we learn it even during auditions. Tarun Bhasckar would say keep the script in mind and improvise dialogues on the spot. Praveen, another director, had a different style of extracting work. He would have a prepared script and both are good on their own. I have an idea about how theatre actors perform and I even question if I am on par with them. Hundreds attend it. The theatre group teaches us only till a point but even we should contribute something from our side. Inherently, we should be open minded and show ease. The theatre classes just add value, and will enhance but we need to know the basics and ability to be original,” he adds.
When Chaitanya got on to the stage for the first time, it was scary making eye contact with the audience. Memorising and reeling off lengthy dialogues was indeed tough and he would practice in front of the mirror. Ask him about the dialect of Guntur and Vijayawada, he admits that it is laced with profanity and it doesn’t shock people there. “It is very common, treated as very colloquial. I don’t think the people in the city use it. Nee devasam is used as ootha padham. It is custom followed after death but is used as fun nowadays. It came to me easily because I hail from a place near Vijayawada.
” The actor was given a serious role during the audition and Vinod was teary eyed watching him act. Chaitanya thought Vinod was sensitive and also might have liked his work. He took Chaitanya’s number and only after a year and a half the film started rolling. That time, the producer kept it on hold and they moved to the next one. “ The new producer asked for a demo. After six months Vinod asked for a demo and post that for eight months, nothing moved. There was no response. Vinod also worked hard, roamed around and narrated it to different people. Once the producer saw the demo, Vinod said I was his choice. I had three rounds of auditions before they finally selected me. Later I was given the script and one and a half years later, the project started. It is almost a year now.
I remember doing mime too because Vinod wanted me to break free from the previous characters I played. I play a character called Gopal, who is straight talking and owns a mobile shop in the village. He goes to Guntur to buy new models and in the process falls hook, line and sinker to a girl who sells it to him. Gopal believes in horoscopes and also talks about it to others. He has great faith in it, as things worked before and believes it will again. How he breaks from all that is his story.”
