17 May 2023
Hyderabad
Santosh Sobhan, the leading man of Nandini Reddy’s Anni Manchi Sakunamule (AMS), is glad with the response the film’s trailer has elicited. “We got some great positive feedback. It was really a small glimpse into the world of AMS. We will be offering more with the film,” he tells us. In an exclusive conversation with idlebrain.com, he spoke about his four flops on the bounce, what he learnt from failures, Nandini Reddy’s influence on him, where does he see himself in the next 10 years, one advice from his dad that continues to stay with him and how does he recharge his batteries…
After Ek Mini Katha, four of your films on the trot underperformed at the box office. That must’ve been pretty hard on you…
It definitely was. It might sound a little clichéd but the one fact is I couldn’t have controlled the release timelines because a couple of films in those four finished two years ago. So it was a little difficult to adjust to sudden uncontrollable events. That said, there was great learning from all of them.
It’s a young career and how do you come out of such setbacks?
After Ek Mini Katha, I lapped onto Maruthi anna’s Manchi Rojulochaie. After that I was doing AMS. In between, these releases happened. Especially the result of Like Share & Subscribe hit me hard. It wasn’t a good film and it was pretty much what the audience told us as well. But the journey of the film and the effort I put into it were sincere; I was really hurt with the response. I agreed we didn’t make a good enough film. While making it, there was so much love attached to it that we really couldn’t step back and take a judgment. For the others, I wouldn’t say I was prepared but I kind of usually have an idea and I’d be prepared for anything. Also, I didn’t feel so good about the fact that there was too much of me in a very small period of time. I was really bored looking at myself. I felt I could’ve planned better but then it was beyond my control.
Do you self-motivate yourself to come out of troubled times?
I have no choice but to self-motivate myself and get back on my feet. Cinema is both my passion and living. I don’t have any other source of income outside of cinema. I just had to come back and I did come out of it. At one point last November, Nandini (Reddy) ma’am really helped me to feel better of myself. She helped me to let go of the baggage I was carrying. There was Vamsi anna (UV Creations producer) who kept saying that I have to move on irrespective of the results.
Failures teach a lot more than successes, right?
Absolutely yes! While somehow failures didn’t alter my way of thinking to say, ‘Ok, you know what, I’m going to pick these stories’. But I’ve really understood that the most honest people in my life are my audience. When I did Ek Mini Katha, they appreciated it. When I made a bad film, they told me it was bad. They don’t care where I come from, who I am or what I did. They only care about the film and my performance. They’ve been brutally honest with me. So when I have such an honest audience, I figured the kind of stories I tell and be part of should also be told in an honest way without resorting to gimmicks. I figured out that I’m never going to be gimmicky and try to fake something. I want to be sincere and honest with my audience and I actually picked that up from how Swapna akka is doing all her films.
In spite of the setbacks, the silver lining was that your performances were always raved…
After all this, there are people who still believe and appreciate me. It definitely feels good but I think I’m only as good as my film. I think it’s the choices that make us and I should make better choices.
With AMS, what sealed the deal? Was it Nandini Reddy or Swapna Dutt?
It was definitely both of them together. My first advance ever in my life came from the Dutt sisters back in 2018. A couple of years later, I was told by Swapna akka that I need to take a screen test. When I wanted to know for whom, she said Nandini Reddy. I was excited. When I auditioned and got selected, I felt really surreal. I knew these are the people that I want to work with and that happened. The fact that AMS is a story well told and it gave me a sense of job satisfaction is a bonus. To just work with Swapna akka and Nandini ma’am was a high for me. It empowered me.
What can you share about the film and your character?
I play Rishi who is truly a child at heart. Children don’t do anything big or fancy to be happy. Wherever you put a child, they are always in pursuit of happiness. Rishi is that sort of a character. He always wants to make others laugh, is always laughing and enjoying life. He embodies the philosophy ‘live in the moment’. It was not an easy character to be because it has many layers and that was the beauty of Rishi. I really lightened up in real life from Rishi. I learnt to breathe and let go from Rishi. The film has no rules as such. The drive of the film is just purely love. When I watched it, I felt it’s just made with a lot of love. And what Nandini ma’am extracted from us was not just performances but love as well; a lot of love. It’s so breezy and so nice that I really felt it's like a summer movie I’d watch with my mother, brother and granny. It really gave me a sense of accomplishment.
What did working with a sensitive director like Nandini Reddy teach you?
The honesty with which she approaches her stories is always something that inspires me. Rishi resembles her a lot in real life. She is my mentor today. I have immense respect for her. She really changed the way I think about cinema and life in general. Before working with her, I was all over the place. I kind of started when I was 18 or 19 years of age. So I was really lost. It took a while to understand myself as an actor. And she made me realize what kind of an actor I was and what I should continue to be.
In terms of range and challenge, where would you place your role in AMS among all the work you’ve done so far?
In terms of range, it’s the most layered character I played so far. I thought it was cool to attempt Rishi. Nandini ma’am was clear in what she wants and why she wants and that made the job of actors easier. For the film, I’ve worked with stalwarts like Sowcar Janaki ma’am, Rajendra Prasad garu, Rao Ramesh garu, Naresh garu, Gowtami garu and Vasuki garu. If it wasn’t for Nandini ma’am, performing with them would’ve been ideally intimidating. She made me so comfortable playing Rishi. All these wonderful actors have also contributed to my performance.
Talking about the veterans, it must’ve been a big learning curve for you?
Absolutely! It was great working with everybody. I wouldn’t have imagined myself in the vicinity of Janaki garu and to be able to perform with her. It was very surreal. It is something I will always cherish for the rest of my life. At 92 years of age, she has an incredible amount of energy and she was sharp with her lines. I thought it was extremely inspiring.
Do you wish to be in a place where you want to be in the next few years as an actor?
For the first time in my life I have a 10-year goal. A decade from now, no matter how many films I feature in, I hope all of them age well and leave a lasting impact with the audience. Simply put, I want to be associated with making films that are not easy to forget.
Is there anything that your father told you that you carry with you even today?
I was 11 years old when he passed away. He once said, ‘Always be an actor first’. I don’t know if he said it to me or if I overheard him saying it to someone else. Those words always stayed with me. It is the reason why I have no attachment to vanity. I will always try to be an actor first. Everything will follow.
Like dad, do you ever want to go behind the camera and direct films?
That requires a very different skill set which I don’t have. I have done theatre for the longest part of my life. I always wanted to be a performer. I have never thought of anything else. I’m kind of really living the dream.
You’ve been working round the clock for the past two-and-a-half years juggling between one set to the other. How do you unwind and recharge your batteries every now and then?
There’s this whole concept of ‘me time’, professional time and personal time. I have a different theory about it. If I have some time off, I’d like to share it with my mother, family or my partner. But when I’m working, the time belongs to me. When people tell me it’s just business, nothing personal, I think business is the most personal thing to me. When I’m in front of the camera, it is my personal time. When I’m working it is ‘my me time’. That’s what I really believe and that’s what always empowered me. Being on sets is where my energy is.
What else are you working on?
I will be collaborating with UV Creations again but there’s no timeline to it yet. I figured out I really wanna give my best ever to it, so it will take time. I kind of have an idea on what I want to do. We have delivered on the script stage. I want to deliver one product that actually can live up to what AMS has given to me. It has given me a lot of empowerment and belief in myself. So I have to live up to that factor as well.
What do you do in your free time?
I love cricket and I consume a lot of it on TV. I’ve been keeping a track of the IPL this year; in fact I always do. I love my movies; I love Netflix. Watching movies is actually my unwinding time.
-NAGARAJ GOUD
