Failure impacts me as much as success does, says Naga Chaitanya

CHENNAI: As Thandel is all set to release February 7, the team looks pretty calm and confident as we meet them in a city hotel. Producer of the film, Allu Aravind was the first to arrive and greeted us with his smile. He recalls the day director Chandoo Mondeti approached him with Thandel, which is the biggest film of Naga Chaitanya's career yet. "I immediately liked it because it is a real story that took place in 2018. 22 fishermen from Andhra Pradesh were captured by the Pakistan Marine Security Agency for entering into their waters unintentionally. When Chandoo told me the story, it was like a documentary. However, he added a few interesting elements to it and has delivered a film with commercial values as well," Allu Aravind said.

Naga Chaitanya and Chandoo walked in. Allu briefed the filmmaker on what he had to say about the film. Chandoo added to his point and added, "This is an inspirational story where an entire village came together for the fishermen to be rescued. The story takes place in Srikakulam and the actors had to perfect the dialect. Also, most of the story happens in the sea and Pakistan prison. For this we met these fishermen and their families to know how it was and they gave us a perfect description of prisons in Pakistan. We have recreated the entire thing. There is also romance, and other emotions in the story. They can talk to their families only when they anchor their ships in ports once in 35 days. We studied all that to make Thandel a neat watch."

Naga Chaitanya explained that playing a fisherman wasn't an easy process. Before he could begin, Allu Aravind said that he always wanted to make a film with Chay and Thandel was the perfect script to get him on board. Naga Chaitanya said, "I have been sporting this beard for almost two years now. I will be trimming this off on February 8. Jokes apart, Thandel was physically demanding. We spoke to the fishermen about their challenges, the food that they eat when on sea. We had more clarity after meeting them when it came to designing the characters."

The business dynamics have gone through a lot of change over the last few years. There are butterflies in the stomach when actors market a film as 'the biggest of their career'. "Today, beyond the hero's and director's market, there is a lot of scope for the content, when it comes to the business of a film. To bring the audience to theatres, and for us to give them a larger-than-life spectacle, I believe the investment has to go for the story. Allu Aravind sir did that for us with Thandel. He knew what the story needs irrespective of our market (Chay and Chandoo).

Over the last few months, south filmmakers have been penning scripts keeping Chaitanya as their obvious choice to play the lead. He remarked that though he is glad about it and feels overwhelmed, he is also conscious about his choices. "I am someone who really takes time to come out of a failure. It affects me a lot. So, saying no to scripts is as important as saying yes. Success does make me happy but failure too impacts me as much as success. When it comes to performing or choosing scripts, I have learnt to learn as well as unlearn a few things," he concluded.