Megastar Chiranjeevi is in his elements. The reason is obvious: he is doing something which has always been his soul: Acting. In this excellent interview, the 'Emperor of Entertainment' fields any and every question with aplomb. Read on to know whether he is ready to do six packs, what changes have been made in remaking 'Kaththi', and more.

Are you playing safe by going for a remake?

I listened to a lot of stories for one year with the intention of doing a straight movie. While some of them were good enough, they lacked something that I was looking for my 150th movie. As I am in politics, having entertainment alone wouldn't be nice. When I watched 'Kaththi', I found the right movie in it.

When my fans and actors like Rajinikanth and Amitabh garu wished that I do films once again, I thought I should do. I had some skepticism in me, initially. But looking at the encouragement, I grew in confidence. I don't feel the years of gap between 2007 and 2017.

What changes have been made to nativise 'Kaththi' to suit the tastes of Telugu audience?

You will find monotony in 'Kaththi', which is not there in the remake. For example, Brahmanandam's character is not there in the original. The situations may be the same, but the dialogues are totally different. The song situations are new. The Telugu version is a bit fast-paced.

I am not tensed because we have faith in our product. The songs have been viewed 10, 6, 5 million times or so. This is huge.

How do you rate your son as a producer? When is he becoming a father?

I was not sure about how he would perform the task, but he has done it very well. Despite his busy schedule, he has carried the role with conviction. He has got a lot of clarity and in spotting the talent. As for him turning a dad, it's up to him. I only express my wish to him!

Not only as a producer, he has been my good dietitian, too. He guides me with respect to the food I ought to eat. After entering into politics, I couldn't focus much on my body, but things have changed in the last one year.

What is your view of Balakrishna's 'GPSK'?

He has secured success by choosing a subject like this. (Chiru knows the story as Krish himself narrated to him). The content of his film and my film are different. Every film has to do well because the livelihood of thousands is dependent on the industry.

Although the original has references to real-life scandals, 'Khaidi No. 150' has no references to politics.

Charan has turned into a producer. How do you see the way his career is progressing?

He is doing a wise job in picking the scripts. For example, he did 'Govindudu Andarivadele' because he wanted to reach out to family audiences. I have found his act in 'Dhruva' very subtle even while being intense.

Pawan Kalyan is bursting forth aggressively in politics. There are also rumours that you are going to come out of the Congress and join another party.

That has always been his style. It's good, right? Let's see. There is no question of me joining any other party.

There is an impression that holding of the pre-release event in Vijaywada was deliberately obstructed by the government. The Jan 7th event was also completed quickly. Why so?

It's a wrong impression. A court order is in force to not hold non-official events in a ground and that's why it was not held there as it would have meant violation. The euphoria of fans during the pre-release event was so high that there was so much of jostling and the police too were pushed to limits by the crowds.

When Pawan could go to 'Sapthagiri Express' audio launch, why did he skip your event?

Reacting to every and any rumour would be like playing into the hands of the rumour-mongers. One can't make it to every function. I think Kalyan did tweet his wishes.

When you did your last film in 2007, social media was hardly this widespread. Today, there is so much of negativity among fans on social media. How do you see it?

Self-control is needed in the age of technology. Folks have to apply their sense in reacting to different things. I don't appreciate perverse and venon-spewing mindset. Even on You Tube, unnecessary controversies are created through pointless headlines. When you see the video, you find nothing of that sort suggested by the headline.

How is the competition like in the industry?

If the industry does well, we do good. The reality is that the competition is quite healthy here. As you know, Mahesh and Charan went on a holiday during the New Year break. Akhil visits us often. Our relations with NTR are healthy. I am glad that Charan follows the same culture.

How do you describe each of the Mega heroes in one word?

Charan is composed. Bunny is jolly type. Varun is always steady. Sai Dharam is bubbly. Niharika is tender. We don't see it as competition at all. They are very sportive. They see me as a watchdog. 'Vallalo nenu unnanu ane bhayam undhi'.

Having done 150 movies, are you satisfied?

One wants to entertain the audience till the end. Sometimes, the desire is never-dying, as ANR garu once said. The caveat is that one has to be watchful of public reception. If it's not there, they will say, 'Why is he acting?'

At a time when openings are paramount, do you feel the pressure?

Once I am done with the film, I don't worry about how many centres the film has released, what are the BO records, etc. As I have no knowledge of such things, feeling the pressure doesn't arise. Since gone are the days when films used to run for 100 days, there is focus on 100 crore club, 150 crore club, etc.

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