Akkineni Nagarjuna made his Bollywood comeback after 15 years with director Ayan Mukerji’s Brahmastra. Starring Amitabh Bachchan, Ranbir Kapoor and Alia Bhatt in lead roles, the fantasy action-adventure film is a three-part fantasy trilogy. As the film has crossed 300 crores at the worldwide box office, Nagarjuna is revealing in the appreciation that his character has got from both Hindi and Telugu audiences.
As per reports in Times Of India, talking about the success of the film, he said, “The feedback has been fantastic. The reactions I have received for my character have been very powerful. Everyone’s saying ‘What an impact my character has created at the mid point. Most fans said they were blown away with the Nandi segment and the chase on the road. A lot of people loved my character’s dialogues, especially the ones infused with Lord Nandi’s mantras. More than anything, what surprised me was that so many people sent out videos to me from Brahmastra screenings that happened in the North. It was nice to see those reactions from the Hindi audiences, considering the fact that I did not have a huge role. It’s not the main lead and yet it has got such reactions.”
When asked if he feels Telugu cinema has evolved at a faster pace than Hindi cinema? He mentioned, “Telugu cinema was a huge success even in the 80s and 90s. It’s just that they weren’t showcased the same way to Hindi audiences as they are today. Today, they’ve become technically brilliant. At one point, some films were a little primitive, but I would say they were rooted to the ground. I would equate Telugu cinema to be like walking barefoot. They’re rooted to the ground. Those are the stories and messages that Telugu films portray. A guy walking on the street can identify with the themes and messages of a Telugu film with ease.”
He continued, “It’s those guys who like to go to a theater and experience a film. I would say, that’s 90 percent of our audience. When I was coming here to the Dharma Productions office, I spotted a few 15 year old kids playing loud music on the speakers and dancing on an item number on the road side. You don’t need intellectually creativity for those audiences. What I mean is, not all films need to be intellectual, they need to be intelligent. It’s very difficult to make an intelligent film, one that truly understands it’s audience. It’s not as easy as shooting an arrow in any random direction.”
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