Varun Tej says Chiranjeevi never let him or cousins turn into spoiled brats: He used to cane Allu Arjun, Ram Charan
Varun Tej also jokingly called his uncle Chiranjeevi the ‘headmaster’ of the family and said this about how he keeps them all together.
Varun Tej credited his uncle Chiranjeevi for keeping him and his cousins ‘humble’ despite growing up in a film family. On Siddharth Kannan’s show, the actor joked that his uncle ‘definitely caned’ him, Allu Arjun and Ram Charan growing up to keep them in check. (Also Read: Varun Tej playfully shuts down questions on love story with Lavanya Tripathi: ‘I won't reveal things like that’)
‘He had a huge impact on us’
Varun was asked how, despite growing up in a film family, he and his cousins remain ‘humble’. He replied, “Chiranjeevi garu never let us turn into spoiled brats. He had a huge impact on all of us. If you think we're humble, he has the greatest role to play. He always kept us in check; he always kept us grounded.”
The actor also called Chiranjeevi the ‘headmaster’ of the family, jokingly adding, “He has probably caned all three of us (him, Ram, Arjun) in three different time zones at three different places. I'm sure more so them than me because I’m the youngest. People can say anything, but we’ll always listen to him. Growing up, everyone needed to meet at his place on Sundays. It kept our family together.”
Varun Tej’s bond with Chiranjeevi
For the unversed, Varun is Chiranjeevi’s brother Naga Babu’s son. Niharika Konidela is his sister. The siblings and their cousins, including Sai Durgha Tej and Vaisshnav Tej, followed in their uncles Chiranjeevi and Pawan Kalyan's and father’s footsteps in becoming actors. Every Sankranthi, the whole family catches up irrespective of their work commitments to spend time together.
Chiranjeevi has always been Varun’s confidant. The actor once joked that he was mad at his nephew for not telling him he was dating Lavanya Tripathi. At the pre-release event of Operation Valentine earlier this year, Chiranjeevi said, “Varun tells me everything, but he hid this from me. He didn’t even give me a hint. He always says he’s inspired by me, wish he was inspired enough to tell me he’s dating Lavanya. He often tells me things he doesn’t tell his father too. So, I’m still angry with him.”
Upcoming work
After 2019’s successful Gaddalakonda Ganesh, Varun had a dry run at the cinemas with his consecutive films Ghani, F3: Fun and Frustration, Gandeevadhari Arjuna and Operation Valentine, receiving lukewarm responses. He will soon star in Karuna Kumar’s Matka with Meenakshi Chaudhary and Nora Fatehi as his co-stars. The film will be released in theatres on November 14. Chiranjeevi will soon star in Vishwambhara with Trisha Krishnan as his co-star.