HIT 3 star Nani: If the aim is to put big numbers on posters, you will make bad choices

In his early days as an actor, Eega fame actor Nani says that he was typecast in romantic dramas and rom-coms, a stereotype that he consciously worked towards breaking. In fact, even after a massy blockbuster film like Dasara, instead of doing another big movie like that, Nani chose to hit theatres with the romantic drama Hi Nanna, which, although a box office success, was more in his Natural Star territory.

What the actor-producer, who also does films like Jersey , Jameen , Snehithuda , etc., has been doing is mixing up his comfort zone, with the odd film proving his versatility to show audiences and filmmakers what he can bring to the table. His funda, he says, is that irrespective of the box office numbers, he will do whatever comes his way.

Nani: Actors should not approach films as only a business

During his Bengaluru trip to promote HIT 3, Krishna Gaadi Veera Prema Gaadha ’s Nani spoke to Gold Class with Mayura and explained why it is important for him to keep doing films that are not only different in genre but scale also. “It is very easy to typecast you in cinema. Initially, when I did rom-coms, they did that, so you need to break it continuously for the audience. It is only then that you keep win different audiences for different genes and you feel wholesome about the process. Otherwise, it will be, ‘I am good at this, let me only do this’, and it will be just business,” said Nani.

The actor adds that while cinema is business for some, he believes that actors should not never approach it like that. “See, in a year, you will have 1 or 2 release days. The rest of the year, you are shooting for your next relase. What needs to be exciting is not only that 1 or 2 days – the entire year should be. And if I am doing what I have done before, it is not exciting. That is the reason I want to do different genres,” he says.

The actor admits that, ultimately, box office numbers do matter because someone is putting in money. But he then cites the business of Dasara and Hi Nanna, which, were vastly different films, and yet achieved similar levels of success. “A film like Dasara made at Rs 80 cr made Rs 120 cr, while Hi Nanna, made at Rs 55 cr - Rs 60 cr made Rs 85 cr. Success is the same. Somebody might say that ‘Dasara is a huge success, but Nana then did a soft film like Hi Nana. It as also a hit but if he had done a mass film it would have been bigger’. The thing is, mass films also need that kind of budget. If we just want to put a big number on the poster, and look a certain way, I think you will end up making very bad choices. This is not a sustainable model,” he signs off.