Sandhya Raju conveys her gratitude to Ram Charan for supporting all her endeavours

Noted Kuchipudi dancer Sandhya Raju is making her Telugu cinema debut with a film titled Natyam, which also features Rohit Behal, Adithya Menon, Kamal Kamaraju, Subhalekha Sudhakar and Bhanupriya in crucial roles. Natyam, written, edited, cinematographed and directed by debutant Revanth Korukunda, is set to hit theatres on October 22. Ahead of Natyam's theatrical release, a pre-release event was held in Hyderabad, for which actor Ram Charan was the chief guest. Sandhya Raju looked back at the efforts that went behind the dance-centric film at the event.

"I want to take this opportunity to thank my dance guru Vempati Chinna Satyam (garu). Whatever I am today, I owe it to him. I feel blessed to have been one of his many students over the years. My life entirely revolves around dance and cultural traditions. I must have done something really good in my previous births to be a dancer in this life. I can't thank Ram Charan enough for being a pillar of support for all my endeavours (be it my short film or dance performances) over the last ten years," she said.

Stating that Natyam isn't only about herself or the director Revanth Korukunda, Sandhya shared, "The film would have only been possible with great team effort behind the scenes too. The direction team and the costume team have worked day and night to put the film together. Shravan (Bharadwaj)'s music is growing on me every day and gave me greater motivation to dance during the shoot as well. Kamal Kamaraju, despite not knowing Kuchipudi, took the pain to learn the dance form for over a year. When people are saying that he danced to perfection in the songs, it gives me great satisfaction as a teacher too."

Expressing her gratitude to actor Adithya Menon for being a teacher-like figure on sets, she also thanked her co-star Rohit Behal at the event. "I and lyricist Karunakar (Adigarla) may have many little quarrels during the making but our rapport only grew as a result. He was also part of our short film and I hope to work with him on many other projects in the future," Sandhya added. 

Chiranjeevi, after viewing the film's trailer, sent a video message lauding the team's effort to reiterate the significance of classical dance to a newer generation. Sandhya Raju was earlier part of a Malayalam film titled Careful as well. 

Also read: Natyam release date: When and where to watch Sandhya Raju's dance-centric Telugu film