The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh / Hyderabad News : Who will be Raja’s Rani?

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Friday, Nov 27, 2009
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Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh - Hyderabad

Who will be Raja’s Rani?

Yogendra Kalavalapalli

Actor Raja

HYDERABAD: Heartbreaking news for the female fans of actor Raja. If everything goes as planned, the nameplate of handsome hero Raja could well read ‘Mr. and Mrs. Raja’ by the end of next year.

Ask the chocolate boy of Telugu cinema about the girl in his life and he promises an “announcement shortly,” while parrying questions on whether it would be love or an arranged alliance.

The actor, who has come a long way, from a lover boy Sreenu in his first film, ‘O Chinadana’ to a doting son under the guise of a professional killer bearing his name in the latest flick ‘Samardhudu’, was quite young when he realised his future lay in cinema.

“My talent is entertainment. I realised that when I was in 12th class,” says the actor, born to a British mother and Tamil father.

Boy-next-door role

It was his boy-next-door role as Anand Singamraju in the 2004 blockbuster ‘Anand’ that made him a household name overnight. “There will be that one film, no other actor can perform. Like ‘Siva’ was for Nagarjuna and ‘Chanti’ for Venkatesh, ‘Anand’ was for me,” he says.

Point out to him that ‘Anand’, his biggest hit so far, has stereotyped him and he refuses to even entertain the thought.

He has immense respect for Shekar Kammula and his genre of movies. “Shekar Kammula is one director who is trying to make a difference. He is always trying to set a trend in the film industry. So are others like Chandrasekhar Yeleti.”

Quality of cinema

When the talk veers towards quality of Telugu cinema vis-À-vis Bollywood, Raja points out that tastes vary with each State. “We can’t compare Bengali or Malayali cinema with Telugu cinema. Just like food, every State has its own flavour.”

A stickler for spicy Indian food, the self-admitted foodie who eats in “limited quantities” declares, “I don’t like bland food. It has to be spicy and Indian.”

Not a health freak either, “I hardly go to the gym.” How the good physique then? “Luckily, sweets, chocolates and ice creams find no place on my menu card,” he remarks smartly.

Undeterred

The five feet, ten-inch tall actor is not deterred by the recent debacles in his career. He is looking forward to the release of his next film, ‘Inko Saari’, where he is paired opposite Manjari Phadnis.

Directed by Suman Pathuri, it will see Richa Pallod of ‘Nuvve Kavali’ fame make a comeback to the silver screen after a hiatus.

“It is a role anybody who has been a student can relate to,” Raja says of the movie that is slated for November-end or early December release.

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