Allu Arjun: I can definitely never claim I’m a self-made person

His screen presence is stellar, so is his acting prowess. And he is minus any tantrums that maybe expected from a ’star’. So, while the outsider-insider debate has been storming the film industry for quite some time now, he gives his take as honestly as possible, and has no qualms in admitting that he is not “a self-made person”, and would have perhaps not made it had it not been for his father, popular film producer, Allu Aravind.

Read: Allu Arjun says he wants a pan-India appeal: ‘For which I need to do a Bollywood film’

“I can definitely never claim that I am a self-made person, because it’s not true and I completely accept it. Having a person from the family in the industry always helps. His (Allu Aravind’s) presence got me a break easily… That is a huge thing in your initial years. There is someone to help, support and most importantly, guide you through your mistakes. That’s an advantage, and I’m thankful I had that in my life during those developing years…,” he smiles.

But the star of Race Gurram (2014), Rudhramadevi (2015) and Naa Peru Surya, Naa Illu India (2018) explains once you’re in, everything depends on the person. “When the film is ready and releases in the theatre, I’m there on screen… My father or for that matter no one else will be able to perform, dance on my behalf or be with me to help me hold the interest of the audience. When the light goes off, in that darkness, on that screen I’ll have to impress the audience in the next three hours in my individual capacity… if they don’t accept me, my performance, my career goes nowhere. And I must continue doing the same… So in the long run, the initial push becomes a smaller factor,” elucidates the actor, who gets emotional talking about his father, especially the things he has learned.

“I get to learn so much every day… But one thing that’ll always stay with me is that he once told me, ‘Don’t think you have started off because you’ll never be started [especially in this profession]’,” says Allu, who is currently basking in the glory of the success of his latest Telugu family entertainer, Ala Vaikunthapurramloo.

And there are reports of the actor making his Bollywood debut soon, something his fans are looking forward to. The good news is that he is interested in doing a Hindi film, but to break your heart for the time being, nothing has been finalised yet.

“Let’s see when it happens,” he says, revealing the kind of films he would like to do in Bollywood. “I really liked Gully Boy (2019), I would love to do a film like that… I think in Bollywood, I would like to do a film strong on content which can be in any genre. Something on the lines of a Bhaag Milkha Bhaag (2013), because such a film will be the perfect alignment of content and my strength,” Allu adds in his inimitable style.

Author tweets @Shreya_MJ

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