An Exclusive Interview with Arvind Krishna
Arvind Krishna, the versatile actor who is called the Hrithik Roshan of Tollywood, is turning heads with his performances. His unconventional choice of roles and the fact that he considers veteran film maker Dasari Narayan Rao his mentor are but the natural extension of a life diversely lived. The Harvard educated actor is also a basketball player, a hot-shot corporate manager and an entrepreneur. His first film was with Dasari Narayan Rao’s Young India and later was seen in a Cameo role in Alasyam Amruthammovie. His first feature film in which he played the lead role is the 2011 movie It’s My Love Story.
Once we reach his house, Arvind Krishna himself comes down to greet us, casually dressed in a tee shirt and a pair of shorts. He shows us around his house, his pets and his cars. Among his pets, he has three tortoises which add an inexplicable charm to the place. He takes us to a room where we are surrounded by an exquisite collection of ornaments. As we talk, he gets candid about his life so far and what he’s looking forward to.
The actor was born on January 5th, 1985. He did his early schooling in Europe as his father was a diplomat. He moved to the USA for high school and ended up as the topper of his batch and the captain of his high school’s basketball team. Later he obtained a bachelor’s degree in biotechnology from JNTU Hyderabad and was the university topper. He did his Masters in Business Administration from Harvard University while working with Satyam school of Leadership.
When asked about the contrast between his career choices before and his career choice now, he says “Acting was a completely out-of-the-blue decision. I didn’t even speak Telugu properly. I started learning Telugu after I came to India for my engineering. Later when I was working for Satyam, Raviraja Pinsetty advised me to try my hand at acting.”
We wondered if the actor experienced any cultural shock when he came here to study after living abroad for so long. His reply to this was that initially, it was difficult and it took him time to fully integrate into the Hyderabadi way of life. His only solace in college was his love for basketball. He applied himself so diligently that he ended up becoming the Captain of our country’s basketball team. He adds that he met his wife in college.
After working for Satyam, he joined Anupam Kher’s acting school Actor Prepares. It was during his stint here that he learnt the nuances about acting. It was a challenging experience for him. Later, he worked with the veteran film maker Dasari Narayan Rao. He considers Dasari Narayan Rao to be his ‘guru’, as the film maker was the one who taught him Telugu. Talking about him, Arvind says “working with guru garu is very difficult. One has to be very fast and adaptive.”
According to him, the angry-young-man trend that is now the ‘thing’ in Tollywood, is not something every actor can carry off well. “It is the realm of Amitabh Bachchan,” says the 27 year old actor. Nevertheless, he feels it is an interesting time to be in Tollywood, “Tollywood is in a nascent phase, it can go places. There is a perfect influx of technology and cross-cultural influences.”
Talking about his upcoming films, he says he has 5 movies ready to release. The one that is releasing next is the comedy Biskett. There’s another movie Saaradhi, which he says is a psychological thriller. “I play the role of a schizophrenic assassin-for-hire in the film. You’ll never know what is real and what isn’t.”
It is common knowledge that women in Tollywood now usually play just the role of the male lead’s love interest. Commenting on this, he says “A woman is important in my life. I choose movies which have the leading lady in a significant role. It all sends a sublime message as to what the society perceives about women.”
So far, the roles he has done have been versatile -romantic lover, sad doctor, schizophrenic killer. He does not want to be type-casted to a particular role as he is willing to do any kind of a role, as long as it is significant. For instance, he would even do a negative role if he gets something like Joker or Bane from Batman, as he considers them to be the uber super-villains.
Talking about his upcoming film Biskett, he says it is a romantic action comedy thriller and we have to wait till we watch the film to know more. “I am happy with the response the audio release got. Going by this, the movie is going to be a decent success.”
On a lighter note, we ask him what he would have been in the film industry if not an actor. He laughs and says “I would have probably been a hairstylist or a director.”
On a last note, Arvind Krishna talks about working out. The exercise freak says “Working out is a discipline unto itself. It relaxes your body and mind and the endorphins definitely make you better.”
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