04 May 2023
Hyderabad
Speaking at a promotional event of his next Custody on Wednesday in Hyderabad, Naga Chaitanya said writer-director Venkat Prabhu approached him with the story one-and-a-half years ago. “He narrated the line of Custody. It was about a boy next-door constable who receives power. It is nothing but the truth. And to what extreme he goes to defend it. I liked this point. Exploring a constable character and presenting it to the audience hasn’t happened in recent times… I liked the point,” the actor said. “When I asked Venkat Prabhu sir why he wanted me when he knows so many stars in Chennai, he said he watched Love Story and that he was impressed by my performance in it. He felt I was apt for the constable role.”
Plus, the actor added that he has been thinking of doing a Tamil film for a long time because he grew up in Chennai. “I did my schooling there for 16 years. I’ve been thinking of entertaining the Tamil audience as well for a long time. Being launched by Venkat Prabhu…. I couldn’t have asked for a better opportunity. At the same time, he has been wishing to make a Telugu film for a long while. So I was happy that the discussion took place that day. It was a win-win situation for both of us,” he said with a smile.
Lauding Prabhu’s writing skills, Chay mentioned, “He has a trademark screenplay style and I believe it will be fresh for the Telugu audience. I generally don’t react after narrations but for the first time after listening to Custody narration, I got up from my chair and hugged him out of happiness. After watching the film at the edit table, I got the same feeling again. He shot what he narrated to me.”
About the film, Chay said it has many layers and for every ten minutes, each layer unfolds, keeping the audience at the edge-of-their-seats. He added that it was a dream come true moment for him to have his film music composed by maestro Ilaiyaraaja and his son Yuvan Shankar Raja.
