Allu Arjun might be Allu Ramalingaiah’s grandson and Chiranjeevi’s nephew, but he didn’t have it easy in the early days of his career. Allu, who debuted in 2003 with the K Raghavendra Rao-directorial Gangotri, revealed how he initially didn’t get great scripts due to how he looked. (Also Read: Allu Arjun says he’ll teach David Warner Pushpa Pushpa's hook step: ‘It’s easy’)
‘Gangotri was a hit but I didn’t make a mark’
Getting candid at an event in Hyderabad celebrating 20 years since Sukumar’s Arya released, Allu revealed how his career didn’t amount to much till he agreed to star in the 2004 romantic drama.
He said, “Naa Gangotri cinema hit aindi. Nen ekkado chudadaniki pedda goppa ga lenu anesi naku pedda great films raledu (Gangotri was a hit but I didn’t look great, so good films didn’t come my way) The film was a blockbuster but it’s my failure as an artiste that I couldn’t make a mark. I went from 0 to -100, I was a nobody.” The actor also detailed that even after his debut, he was roaming the RTC crossroads in Hyderabad, watching new releases and hearing scripts that failed to draw him in.
But all that changed when he attended the screening of Nithiin-starrer Dil a month later with his friend and actor Tarun. “That’s where Sukumar approached me for Arya, he was a debut director but I liked what he had written. Chiranjeevi also heard the script, I also received a shield from him when the film completed 125 days in theatres against all odds. When I watched Ravi Teja’s Idiot, I wanted to star in a cool film like that. Arya is my Idiot. I knew I could dance well and I just wanted the opportunity to prove it. I got that with the song, Thakadhimithom,” he revealed.
{{/usCountry}}But all that changed when he attended the screening of Nithiin-starrer Dil a month later with his friend and actor Tarun. “That’s where Sukumar approached me for Arya, he was a debut director but I liked what he had written. Chiranjeevi also heard the script, I also received a shield from him when the film completed 125 days in theatres against all odds. When I watched Ravi Teja’s Idiot, I wanted to star in a cool film like that. Arya is my Idiot. I knew I could dance well and I just wanted the opportunity to prove it. I got that with the song, Thakadhimithom,” he revealed.
{{/usCountry}}‘Sukumar changed my life forever’
Allu kept it brief when it came to praising Sukumar, stating that he will say just enough for people to grasp how much the director means to him. He said, “If there’s one person in my life who has changed it forever and had the maximum impact, from Arya to Pushpa, it’s Sukumar. Irrespective of me delivering hits or flops, he is the one who helped me get on track to becoming an actor.”
Arya was a massive hit when it was released and changed the course of career for both the actor and the director. Music composer Devi Sri Prasad was the only one from the film’s team who had some experience, already famous for films like Khadgam, Manmadhudu and Varsham.
Sukumar is now directing Allu in Pushpa: The Rule, the sequel of the 2022 film Pushpa: The Rise. The film also stars Rashmika Mandanna and Fahadh Faasil in the lead roles.
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