With the onslaught of OTT platforms, the star system hasn’t completely faded but the aura and the mystique has certainly waned. People are visiting theatres only if the reviews are good and if that happens one can be assured of a good opening collection. There is no guarantee that the collections will sustain on Monday, it might crash!. In this scenario there is a demand for new actors and producers will most possibly look for nepo kids because they will be under a perception that he or she might generate curiosity and to a certain extent pull the audience to the theatre. While that remains a myth, it is interesting to watch Bellamkonda Ganesh make his debut soon this month. He is producer Bellamkonda Suresh’s younger son and the title of the film is Swati Muthyam. Varsha Bollamma is his co-star. There are other debutants waiting to make a splash but for this festive season all eyes are on Ganesh. In a small chat with Y.Sunita Chowdhary of Klapboardpost.com, he stresses he is here to stay and will put in all his effort to win the hearts of the audiences.
On being an actor: I don’t agree with the concept of Nepotism. There is a difference and a similarity between the two. While the similarity is that wannabe actors both from the industry and outside have to put in effort, I concur with the point that an outsider has to struggle to get here. All said and done, you can establish yourself here only when you put in great effort and prove your talent. Since childhood, I was attracted to the sets of the film. From outside, the set is a chaotic place but once you see yourself on the monitor, you are happy that you are here, which is what you were rooting for. Filmmaking I believe is a perfection in chaos. I love that feeling and ever since my childhood I have always wanted to be a part of this.
On comfort zone: I have no set plan for this career now that I have chosen I want to be here. No one can 100 percent say that this is my strategy and this is how my life is going to be. Life throws up unexpected things at us so how can we stay prepared? I want to do different genres and roles that have scope for performance and I have no set hard and fast rule that I want to be this and do that. I have seen people work hard irrespective of the film’s result and that this hard work is the same whether it is a hit or a flop cinema. Result doesn’t matter to me, the making of the film matters to me most. Everybody’s journey is different and I am not comparing it with anyone. This is Ganesh’s career and I have my own unique path.
Not produced by home banner: I had been to Mumbai in 2017 for acting classes and the next year I was in the USA for the same and later I was listening to scripts and I selected a unique point. The director is my friend’s friend Lakshman. He won a SIIMA for a short film, an independent project. It was an hour long film. I saw the visuals and thought he could handle it well. It is a taboo subject and people in the family might find it embarrassing to discuss. No one from South India had ever made a film on such a subject for sure. Lakshman incorporated this with a family drama and he did an amazing job. I heard other stories too but I liked this out of the lot. I wanted to come with a good film and if an outside banner produced it with me, it would be a proud moment. I told the director to narrate it to producer Vamsee and he liked it and we went ahead because we all liked the story. I feel very good that a banner other than my family’s is producing it. We did a workshop and they all liked my work, the character I was portraying and greenlit the project.
Difference between siblings: My brother Bellamkonda Sai Sreenivas indeed worked with big directors and heroines. When he was in the 9th and the 10th standard, director VV Vinayak announced he was launching Sreenivas on my dad’s birthday. Eversince the family tried their best to make sure he is not exposed. My brother also on his part didn’t want to be seen by outsiders. He hardly visited the sets of the films that my dad produced whereas I was a familiar face to the people working there. I was watching films on the sets and decided to be an actor. Till Alludu Seenu and Ganga released, I was always on the set. In 2015 Ganga released and the following year, I was planning to be an actor. The next couple of years I was in film school and there was no delay as such for my entry.
Mental preparation: I do concur that I am at a comfort zone but there is always this anxiety and tension. When we are open to public gaze, I believe that we should be mentally prepared to accept both and trust the audience’s feedback and review and correct ourselves for the future. I am quite sure that this movie will be liked by the people. I am looking forward to my debut and I am very curious to know what you all have to say about me. If people see the film and troll, I will correct myself but my request to trollers is that it isn’t fair to troll without seeing the film.
Early publicity: Since this is my first film, the producer thought I should be seen by one and all, that I should be giving interviews to all channels and Youtubers and get people to know me better. He wanted me to be a familiar face and they should get used to me and not take time to register my sudden appearance. It is an assumption that it might not work in our favor if I just appear on screen on one Friday so I did what I was supposed to do. I am really lucky that I came in at a time when content matters more than stardom. People during the lockdown have seen a wide range of content and so there is more pressure to come up with fresh and challenging subjects. This plot is a new and very today kind of subject.
Escalating cost: Once a debutant’s film is a success, the immediate thing to happen next is to expand the budget of the film as per the hero’s market. I don’t quite agree with this statement. The producer of Naandhi, Satish Vegesna is coming up with a film and I am a part of it; the budget of the film is half of what I am currently doing now. I believe in content and I will select a story that I like. The budget is the producer’s call. I also don’t believe in taking suggestions to finalise a script. I will pick up something that suits me that I take fascination to and also if I feel I am capable of pulling it off. I have been watching people since childhood and I understand that I will burn my pocket If I listen to others. I want to be a performer first and try all genres, get accepted by people. If this works I can think of what to do next but I am not keen on doing mass roles initially and in no hurry to be known as a mass hero. There is a lot of time for that, right now I am working with newcomers and choosing realistic films. My parents are of course excited and tense about Swati Muthyam. They haven’t seen the film yet and I want my movie to be praised not just for my presence but get encomiums for all aspects of the 24 crafts and only when this happens it will be a celebration.
Early influences: I always enjoyed Venkatesh’s films and would be glued to his films on television. I like the way he carries himself. I must have seen his film Raja 50 times at least and saw him work on the sets of the film dad produced. He is one person I look upto.
