Real-life wife and husband Samantha Akkineni and Naga Chaitanya Akkineni have donned the roles of ‘reel’ wife and husband in Majili. Naga Chaitanya talks about marrying Samantha, his life post marriage, working on Majili and more. Excerpts from a candid conversation.
How was it working with Samantha after marriage? What you like most in her?
Samantha is truly caring. She cares more about me than herself. While we were shooting for Majili, she took utmost care of my role and how it shaped up. As soon as the shot is done, she runs up to monitor to check how I performed. She takes utmost care on me than herself. Sam’s energy levels are so high. Her honesty is what I like most in her. These two qualities of Samantha have bowled me.
Tell us about Majili and how it happened to you?
Frankly, Samantha and I were scared to work together. Since we had already done love stories before our marriage, we want to do a different film when we act together. Fortunately, Majili is one such different film. Interestingly, Shiva has come up with a story of husband and wife. And we both got excited hearing the script. It’s a gutsy movie with challenging roles. Poorna and Sravani stand out.
After watching Ninnu Kori, I had called Shiva Nirvana and appreciated him for his work. I had told him how brilliantly he had made a sensible film. I had expressed interest working with him and we traveled together. Finally, he had come up with Majili. Samantha and I got excited. We thoroughly enjoyed shooting for the film. We get to spend more time on sets. We predominantly shot between 9 AM to 6 PM. After 6, we catch up at home. We both workout together and we eat dinner together. Sam and I spend quality time. Interestingly, Sam was there in Vizag for outdoor shoot as well. We were so happy to go for outdoor together after longtime and we need not miss each other.
Has Majili Changed You?
No. Majili has no affect on us as couple. We made sure that our work wouldn’t affect or change us. After we wrap up the shoot at 6 PM, we leave all the memories of shoot on the sets and we reach home with fresh thoughts.
How is it playing a cricketer on screen? Have you done any home work?
I am zero in cricket. I didn’t even know how to hold a cricket bat. Racing has been my favourite sport. As director wanted me to be a cricketer in Majili, I underwent training for 4 months. I was trained by Ranji players and finally I managed to play well on screen. Even today, I don’t know cricket much and I can’t play well off-screen. Akhil plays well. (laughs).
Any memorable scene in Majili?
Climax is the best scene. It is an argument between me (Poorna) and Samantha (Sravani). It is totally based on dialogues and hence we had practiced at our home. Other than that, we haven’t worked for any scene at home. Another important scene in the film is the interval scene involving Posani garu and me. It has really come out well.
How was the lip-lock scene between you and Anshu was shot?
(Chuckles) The scene was important in the film and it was shot aesthetically. Sam was not present when we had shot the scene. Sam doesn’t have combination scenes with Divyanka in the film.
How did producers treat you?
Producer Sahu garu is so nice. He has treated both of us so well and he has put in a lot of faith on this film. One needs to have guts to okay such script. After learning that both Sam and me are working together after marriage, Dad (Nagarjuna) said we should have produced the film. But this was more like my home production only. Even when we had encountered various troubles in terms of RR, Sahu garu has managed to overcome all of them and releasing the film on time as per the original plan. Since we have festival Ugadi, we didn’t want to miss it. We are arriving on 5th April.
Why Gopi Sundar backed out?
There was no specific reason. Gopi garu was so busy and he had told us that he couldn’t give the product with complete RR only on 7th April. But since we had planned for 5th April release and we don’t want to miss Ugadi festival, we made sure the RR is done by Thaman. Luckily, Thaman garu was available and he had come to deliver brilliant RR for the film.
How Venky Mama is shaping up?
I’m very happy to share screen space with Mamiaha (Venkatesh). Venky Mama is coming out very well. After Majili release, I’ll join back the shoot of Venky Mama. Personally, I love the comedy timing of Venky mama. So, it’s a dream come true to work with him. I haven’t signed any other films apart from Venky Mama.
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