Vennela Kishore asks if he can take a rain check when requested for an interview. He is playing the lead in Chaari 111, a Telugu comedy espionage drama releasing in theatres on March 1. The reluctance does not come from a space of acting pricey but from a resolve of not wanting to “brag about a film”. “I am hesitant to go to town and say we have done a fantastic job. That is for the audience to decide,” he says, when he relents for this interview a day later.
In his 19-year-old career, since his debut in director Deva Katta’s film Vennela, Kishore mostly steered clear of playing the protagonist. “There were a couple of films in which I played the lead, for instance, Athadu Aame o Scooter… But I was not comfortable as a protagonist.” He acknowledges that of late, comedians are being offered lead roles but says he is happy not taking on the onus. “I have no goals; I am happy with good food, working in and watching good films. On days that I get to work with Brahmanandam garu or Sathya, I am the happiest.”
Then what made him take on Chaari 111? TG Keerthi Kumar, who had debuted as a director with the Sumanth-starrer Malli Modalaindi, approached Vennela Kishore with a script that, in its barebones, was a no-nonsense action espionage drama. But imagine a comedian in place of a serious spy. It triggers a series of events. “At first, I refused to accept the film and told the director that I could play the (supporting) part he had assigned to Sathya,” Kishore recalls. As a fanboy of Kishore, Keerthi Kumar asserted that he would shelve the project. “These discussions went on for two months. His wife, Aditi, the producer of the film, convinced me. She has a knack for presenting things in such a manner that it is tough to say no.”
