Allu Arjun: “Bowing down to the demands of the audiences, we have chopped off the sensuous scene”

In this exclusive chat with super star ALLU ARJUN, senior journalist JYOTHI VENKATESH (who has been a dear friend of his father Allu Aravind), ALLU ARJUN confesses that he is both excited and nervous too that his film Pushpa: The Rise Part 1 has been received with a lot of love and affection by the North audiences.

You are a star in your own right in Telugu Cinema. How do you feel addressing the media in Mumbai for the first tie for your film Pushpa: The Rise Part 1?

I feel quite happy that I was able to address the media in Mumbai for the first time for the release of my film Pushpa: The Rise Part 1. I also feel quite excited.

How was the experience of shooting for the film?

We shot in a remote dense forest with a unit of around 500 people.

How do you feel making your entry in Hindi Cinema with Pushpa: The Rise Part 1?

It is not just about Hindi or for that matter South Cinema. It is all about Indian Cinema. It is just that we made a film in Telugu and then dubbed it in Hindi for the Pan India audiences. To tell you the truth, I am both excited and nervous too that my latest film Pushpa: The Rise Part 1 has been received with a lot of love and affection by the North audiences.

To what extent have you been influenced by stars like Rajinikant and Kamal Haasan as an actor?

Rajinikant has always been a great influence as far as I am concerned, as an actor. I understand the Chennai culture very well and also their movies, and especially when it comes to Rajinikanth movies, I’ve been watching them since I was very small. As a child, I remember my father Allu Aravind who has been a producer himself on his own right taking me to cinema houses to watch films of Rajinikant, Kamal Haasan and my own uncle Chiranjeevi’s films in Tamil as well as Telugu. I have literally grown up watching the films of these stalwarts.

Your film Pushpa: The Rise Part 1 has broken the box office records in not only Telugu but also Hindi. Do you feel vindicated a lot?

I am glad we have reached a stage where the South Cinema has started penetrating all over the country in a big way. As far as I am concerned, I feel that language is not at all a barrier as far as good films are concerned these days. Actors should respect each other’s languages whether it is Hindi, Telugu, Tamil, Malayalam or even Marathi. In any case, I am of the opinion that the lines demarcating Hindi and South films have started blurring of late and we have fortunately reached the stage where only content is able to prevail a lot and also matter

Can you elucidate?

What I mean to say is that today Cinema has grown globally and people also luckily appreciate good content a lot. I’d say that it’s absolutely fortunate to be loved in another language because I don’t speak that language nor do I cater to the audiences of that language. We were making a Telugu film and it so happened that the film got dubbed in Hindi by Manish Shah and received amazing love as we were growing and now so many people are watching it ,we want to give you the best quality as far as possible. Receiving much positive response from the North and small trickles form overseas, receiving enormous love we would like to thank them.

Are there any actors in Hindi films who you are very scared of?

Amithabh Bachchanji inspires me a lot. I would not say that I am scared of him but I am in awe of a great actor like him who inspires me a lot. I also have grown up watching his films as a kid in the 90’s.

Are you scared that the box office collections of Spider Man would cut into the collections of your film Pushpa: The Rise Part 1?

It’s very good that Hollywood has come up with such a huge movie and I think we should be very graceful about it and I welcome them instead of cribbing about whether the collections would dent our film’s gross collections.

Back home, what do you have to say about 83 which is all set to release after Pushpa: The Rise Part 1?

I wish the team of 83 all the best. They are all set to come soon after Pushpa:The Rise Part 1. It’s a very big film, and I want it to be a very big success. After all, it has Ranveer Singh, who is playing the role of cricketer Kail Dev who we all love immensely. Like I said earlier, all films from all over India should make a lot of money, be they from any part of India or even from the West. If Cinema does well, automatically we would also prosper together. Right now, I’m only thinking about cinema making a lot of money at the box office, be it any movie.

How was your chemistry with your leading lady Rashmika Mandanna?

Rashmika Mandana and I had a great chemistry of our own which was well translated on the screen too in the romantic scene that both of us did. Rashmika plays a very vital as well as rustic kind of role in Pushpa: The Rise Part 1. I should confess that she actually complimented my role to the T in the film and elevated it to a great extent. I genuinely feel that there could not have been better times for cinema today and I have made my entry in mainstream cinema nationally at the right time.

Your father and my dear friend Allu Aravind has been a producer of repute and has made many films in Telugu as well as Hindi. Do you also plan to follow his footsteps or go ahead separately on your own?

I am the son of a producer. Thus, you can even say that I am a born producer turned actor. I love Hindi cinema. I have grown up watching it. I definitely want to do a straight Hindi film. It will be a landmark point in my career and I want to make the best possible choice for it. There have been a few offers but nothing really interesting or exciting has come up my way yet.”

When do you plan to take the plunge in Hindi films as an actor or a producer?

I have been having soft talks, with people who ask if I can do something, how to do it, or if we want to do something big. Because people who come to me say they have to come with something solid. Once everything falls into place, I’ll try to plan and come up with something big.

What do you have to say about editing out your controversial scene with Rashmika Mandanna in ‘Pushpa’ where during a romantic interlude you touch her chest in a public place?

Yes. We are told that the scene raised eyebrows as it was not liked by the Telugu family audiences. The ‘van scene’ or ‘tiffin scene’ was discussed online by my fans, who have urged us to delete it to avoid offending the family audience. Following this, the ax has fallen on the scene in ‘Pushpa: The Rise’ and bowing down to the demands of the audiences, we have chopped off the sensuous scene, and the audience would get to watch the trimmed movie from Monday in theaters.