Shahid Kapoor who was last seen in the romantic blockbuster movie, Kabir Singh, which was a remake of the Telugu film Arjun Reddy, is now all set to bowled over his fans and audiences with his cricketer avatar on the silver screen with his upcoming film, Jersey which also happens to be a remake of a Telugu film of the same name. And while Shahid Kapoor is busy promoting his next, the Telugu superstar – Ghanta Naveen Babu aka Nani is making waves down south with latest release, Shyam Singha Roy, a supernatural drama-thriller that also stars Sai Pallavi and Krithi Shetty in pivotal roles.
After the trailer release of Jersey, where Shahid is essaying Nani’s role in the Hindi version of Jersey, people are not just flocking to OTT platforms to watch the original Nani-starrer Jersey, but are also discussing and praising Nani’s performance exuberantly on the social media.
Though fans are eagerly waiting and looking forward to Shahid-starrer Jersey, they are making comparisons between Shahid and Nani and are wondering whether Shahid would be able to pull off the character like Nani with elan. Apart from ‘Jersey’, there are talks that Nani’s 2017 hit, MCA will also be remade.
In an exclusive interview with the Free Press Journal, Nani spoke about his popularity which is gradually increasing across the country and his new movie, Shyam Singha Roy which he wants to be remade in Hindi.
Talking about his pan-India image and popularity, Nani says, “A lot of Telugu films are dubbed and put on YouTube where they get viewership across more than 250 million. When I go on a vacation, people recognise me and they talk to me and inform me that they watched my films. But few feel that I am a Tamil actor and outside the south, people have watched my movies in Hindi dubbed, so they think I am a Hindi actor.”
Throwing a little light on Shyam Singha Roy, which has hit the theatres today, Nani informs that he is hoping that the film would be remade in Hindi or any other language. Talking about the same, Nani asserts, “The film has a very interesting turn to it. There are two timelines in the films; half happens in 1969 in Kolkata and 2021 happens in Hyderabad, so it shows how these two worlds come together and what is the connection between the two worlds, that’s the film is all about. It’s a very interesting film directed by Rahul Sankrityan and produced by Venkat Boyanapalli. I am leaving an option for SSR to be remade in Hindi or other languages.”
Talking about the South and Hindi content coming together, Nani quips, “The amalgamation of South content coming to North does not matter if it is a Malayalam film or Hindi film Telugu or a Tamil film. We are in a place where the content is the king. If you have great content, it will be lapped up differently in languages.”
Nani who has acted in the Tamil version of Band Baaja Baaraat, namely Aaha Kalyanam, is not keen on doing remakes anymore. “Initially, I have done one or two films in Tamil; I was there in Band Bajaa Baaraat remake too. But I have made a conscious decision not to do any more remakes. As an actor, I wanted to do something original. I am happy when my films are remade,” reveals Nani.
Adding happily about his other film being remade, Nani says, “I have heard that MCA is being remade in Hindi. I am also leaving an option open for Shyam Singha Roy to be remade in a different language. Maybe Hindi. I am of the opinion that when big popular stars from the Hindi filmdom enact in my remake films it will reach wider audiences. With Shahid Kapoor in Jersey my film will be watched by a huge number of people. Thus, actors like Ranbir Kapoor, Shahid Kapoor and many others can take my stories into the hearts of many people worldwide. This makes me happy.”
When asked about his debut in the Hindi film industry, to which Nani answers, “I will slowly follow Hindi filmdom only after my stories are finalised. First, I will give it a little more time here in the Telugu industry both as an actor and producer, to get my stories first.”
