Hello folks! In this episode of #BlabWithSandy, we have actor Sreecharan Rachakonda with us. Sreecharan played the lead role in the recent release ‘Kanya Kumari’, which was termed as an organic love story. After winning hearts of the audience in the theatres, ‘Kanya Kumari’ is out now on OTT platforms Aha and Amazon Prime Video. Let’s wait no further and dive into the exciting blab that I had with Sree:
Sandy: Hi, Sreecharan. Could you let us know a bit about your background.
Sreecharan: Hello Sandeep! I was born and brought up in Vizag till I was 11. My father used to work in Vizag Steel Plant. My mother was a Telugu teacher then in my own school. I did my B.Tech in Electrical Engineering from IIT Madras. Later I went on to do my PG Diploma in Screen Acting from FTII Pune.
Sandy: How and when did the acting bug sting you ?
Sreecharan: I guess it has always been there. I loved making my friends and classmates laugh in school. But not until I started doing theatre in college did I begin to think of it as something I want to pursue in life. Theatre gave me that instant connection with the audience. They travel with you and your character’s emotions in real time. And that connection drove me further like nothing else. After college, I moved to Bangalore to do more theatre while doing some partime jobs for survival. I began watching world cinema, getting inspired by many. I wanted to hone my craft and become the best actor I could be. And getting admission into FTII gave me that time and space to do deep work on myself as an actor.
Also my grandfather, when he used to work in the military, would get together with his colleagues and they would perform Shakespeare’s plays to entertain themselves. People in my family say I got that love for acting from him.
Sandy: How did you get onboard for Kanya Kumari?
Sreecharan: A friend and junior from FTII told me that the Kanyakumari team was looking for an actor who spoke Telugu. The AD got in touch with me. I asked him to send me a scene which I could send as an audition. Within that one scene I recognized that this was something special.
The characters were rooted, the dialogue was natural and the emotions were real and honest. I sent my audition from Bombay, where I had just shifted. They liked my take and asked me to come to Hyderabad. That’s when I met the director. He briefed me about the character, we did a couple of scenes, he liked what he saw and offered me the role. Though I was a fresh face and haven’t done a film before, he trusted me with the male lead role and for that I’ll forever be grateful to him.
Sandy: Could you talk about what preparations you made for your role in the film?
Sreecharan: As someone who grew up in cities all my life, becoming a farmer from a village in Srikakulam required a huge transformation. As soon as I got the role, I began my prep. I went to Srikakulam, met real farmers there, learnt all the farm work that was required for the role. These people have decades of experience doing farming and that shows in their body language and the ease with which they do it.
Though I had a very short time to absorb all that, I did my best to observe them and pick up nuances of posture and movement. I worked alongside them, ate with them, chilled with them. And talking with them revealed to me the simplicity and purity of their souls, which helped me find the inner core of my character, Thirupathi. It also helped that my director belonged to the same village and we shot a lot of the film in locations he grew up around. Just being open to the place and the people, who were themselves very open and hearty, gave me a lot.
In the evenings, I’d walk around Srikakulam town, where we were staying, to pick up the slang of that region. Though I picked some up from talking to the farmers, some of their slang would be too localized for a general audience to grasp easily. So I would visit the local shops, ask about onions, just random stuff, sit in restuarants, talk to the locals, and allow myself to speak the way they were speaking. I would record some of these interactions and play them for my director who would decide the particular kind of slang and how much of it we want for the character.
Also, I was pretty skinny by the time I got this role ’cause I had just finished doing the role of a neurotic writer in my FTII diploma film. So I began working out with weights to put on some muscle for the role too. I learnt how to drive a tractor, how to tie a lungi, how to speak loud enough that someone in the next ‘polam’ could hear you… So much this film and this character have taught me. They’ve changed me in subtle yet powerful ways and I’m very grateful I got to have such an experience for my first film.
Sandy: How has the reception been towards your acting and also towards the film from the audience?
Sreecharan: There’s no better reward for an actor than an audience’s applause and genuine appreciation. And I feel honoured for all the love and recognition that has come my way since the release of the film. The writing, direction, the music and the performances have been getting unanimous praise and it’s happy to see that after 2.5 years of working on this beautiful film, it’s finally getting the recognition it deserves, especially since the OTT release on Amazon Prime and Aha.
Everyday I’ve been getting messages on insta from auto drivers to influencers, reaching out to tell me how much they loved the film and my performance in it. Some of them have shared pictures saying it’s their third time, fourth time watching it. The best call I got though was from some people in Srikakulam who told me that my performance was so heartfelt and so rooted as if I actually belonged to that place, as if I was one of their own.
I feel so lucky that I got the opportunity to play this role and be a part of this film that is resonating with so many people and am so grateful for all their love and appreciation.
Sandy: What kind of genres are you looking for in your upcoming projects?
Sreecharan: Any genre, depends on the story. But I would love to do comedies with a soul, dramas with levity, and also action where you actually want to root for the common angry young man.
Sandy: How was your family support been towards you choosing this career path ?
Sreecharan: Initially it was a bit rocky, cause my dad had other dreams for me after I graduated from IIT. He couldn’t fathom why I wanted to pursue theatre and acting with such intensity, fields with barely any money in the beginning and slim chances of success even in the long run. We would have arguments everytime I went home. He would urge me to think if I was being responsible enough to take such decisions. In retrospect maybe he was right. But I was all heart back then, couldn’t listen to an ounce of reason. Cause for me, I saw it as my calling, my purpose in life. So I stuck to it.
I used to direct some short films also back when I was in Bangalore. And after watching one of those films, my dad finally realized that I actually want to do something of value, I guess he got connected to the emotion of the story. Eventually I started getting paid work as an actor.
About four years after doing theatre in Bangalore, I got one of the lead roles in a web series in Bombay. Slowly my parents started to come around. And when I got into FTII, which admits about 10 people per year, they recognized how much I’ve been working on my craft. By the time I got the lead role in Kanyakumari they were in full support. They had always been supportive, just wary of this uncertain career path I had chosen. Ever since I showed them the film at our first preview, they’ve been very happy, even proud of the work I did, and that was probably my biggest reward from this whole journey.
Quick Shot Round:
– Favourite actors: Growing up my favourite actors were Mahesh Babu and Rajnikanth. It my theatre days, I was inspired by DiCaprio. Later Marlon Brando became my biggest inspiration as I started to dig deep in my work.
– Directors you’d like to work with: No one in particular, anyone with an exciting story and a unique way of telling it.
– A film you watched recently and felt like being in it or playing that part: Recently I watched The Roses. Sharp, witty writing giving way to stellar performances. So probably something like that.
– Your biggest regret in life: I never have any regrets. Whatever happens is for the best, we just might not know it yet.
– If not an actor, what would you become ? A director.
– Favourite spots in Hyderabad: PCX at Prasads, Lamakaan, DLF street
– Favourite movie genre: Science Fiction
– Most used app on your phone: WhatsApp/Insta
– Your role model in films: I don’t follow anyone but Brando’s raw, real and personal style of acting has had a big influence on me.
Editor’s note: Sree is related to me via one of our family friends and it couldn’t get any better than this! The Hyderabad Local wishes Sreecharan Rachakonda a glorious film journey ahead, and may he be part of superhit films in the coming years!
Interview by Sandy
Follow Sandy @blabwithsandy
Follow Sreecharan @sreecharanr