“The biggest gain, I like to believe, is credibility from the industry and audience. Now it’s no longer about proving myself it is more about delivering quality cinema and performances, at least that is what people tell me,” says Sesh Adivi who played Rana’s son in Baahubali .
The actor had always been interested in acting but acquired direction as a passion; he directed KISS which didn’t work. Currently he is playing the lead role in director Ravikant Parepu’s Kshanam, a suspense film with an emotional undercurrent. The debut director worked as an assistant director on KISS and was also part of the writing department in his brother Sai Kiran Adivi’s films.
“I don’t believe that good looks get you anywhere in the business,” says Adivi Sesh when he got brownie points for his work in Panja . He adds, “ Panja has been an immense success for me, Karma got me business. I got critics attention — both with praise and criticism — but industry folks believe that I am up to something serious, so it got me a lot of respect. It’s not about doing something conventional or unconventional; I always do films I believe in. I have always delivered films with the same commitment be it Run Raja Run, Dongaata or Baahubali . It keeps me grounded, it is good for you. Panja helped me reach the mainstream audience, to people in colleges.”
The actor is glad that PVP cinema trusted him and gave him Kshanam. Then brother Sai Kiran’s film is coming up in October. Sai Kiran is also high as Kerintha has done well, so it has been a great year for the family.
About Baahubali the actor observes, “It has been the most predictable success of my life; from day one when I heard the story I knew it would be a game changer. I play the crown prince, the son of Bhalladeva (Rana). Though there’s not much screen time, it clearly had its own space.”
Sesh had shot for about 45 to 50 days for his 15 minutes in the film. Rama and Prashanti spent a long time designing his look; he grew his hair long but they chopped it and made it a close cut as they thought he looked best in it. He avers, “Despite being a short role, so much detailing went into it! What ornaments I would wear, what kind of sword I was to carry, etc. A lot of what you see is Rajamouli’s vision — he pushes and makes sure there is no delay. Everything is so perfect that it’s like a ballet.”
He adds, “Not many people know that I did the dubbing for Telugu, Tamil and Hindi. I learnt Tamil for Baahubali ; had there been more time, I would have tried dubbing in Malayalam too.” Ask him if he features in the concluding part of Baahubali and he laughs, “You never know, I may come back as a ghost! Most probably not, they have become like family so I might keep visiting them on the sets. The race of Baahubali has just begun and I consider myself lucky to be a part of a great film that will be remembered.”
Finally he says, “I’ve working continuously for 12 months with Ladies and Gentlemen, Dongaata and the last schedule of Baahubali . While starting rehearsals for Kshanam , Dongaata was done, then we shifted to Kshanam . I am looking forward to a couple of weeks of calming down.”
