Aadarsh Balakrishna, well known for his negative roles in “Iqbal” and “Happy Days” movies is playing the lead in “Cricket Girls and Beer”. Business of Tollywood had a chat with him regarding his current movie and career. Here we go. Please tell us about your background? I was born in Bangalore in a large joint family. I spent the first 10 years there. After that my mom and dad shifted to Hyderabad. From the past 17 years, I’ve been in Hyderabad. I completed my B.Com from Nizam College and I hope to do an MBA someday. I was good at studies and cricket. I am very Passionate about cricket. I played cricket for university, State level. What inspired you to come into Cine Field? I never planned to become an actor. I was practicing at St.Johns Academy, Marredpally, where Director Nagesh Kukunoor visited with his team in search of a real cricketer for the movie “Iqbal”. I gave an audition and got selected. It was my first movie and it was a block buster. After that I auditioned for “Happy Days”. And the rest is history. Tell us about your role in “Cricket Girls and Beer”? My role in the movie is very special to me as I am playing the hero in the movie. I am playing the character of Vijay, the eldest brother in the family. His ambition is to play for the national cricket team. His father believes that cricket is not a profession and does not support him in pursuing his passion. The story is about how he goes about pursuing his ambition in spite of a major setback to the family. You will see me very calm, focused and responsible in the movie. How Supporting were Cast & Crew of the movie? Right from Music Director, Actors, technicians, and the entire movie team was new. It was a chilled experience working with Naga Shaurya and Surya Teja. Both of them have done a good job. Umesh Garu handled the movie very well. I hope people will love “Cricket Girls and Beer”. What kind of script you like the most? I don’t give much importance to Negative or Positive role. My intention is always that the role must be meaning full, important. I enjoy playing the negative role and lead role as well. I am open for any kind of roles. Do you follow any actor? Since I never wanted to be an actor, I never copied any one or followed any one. I have my own style of presenting the character on the screen. In Hollywood, I like Sylvester Stallone. I’m inspired by the characters that he’s played and his personality. He is the one who I really look up to. And in Bollywood there are some really awesome actors like Amitabh Bacchan, Amir Khan, Ajay Devgn, and Nasseruddin Shah, I really admire them. Any other projects you are concentrating upon? I am working with Umesh Sir in his next Movie. Talks are in process for a kannada movie. If everything goes on well, I will be acting in Kannad Movie. What kind of roles you want to do? I don’t want as be known as a Cricketer who can act. I want to do challenging roles which will get me name and fame in the industry. I am open to all kind of characters. If a role contains anything challenging, demanding, interesting,I am ready. Which are your best movies? My best performance was in RGV movie “Appalraju”. I played the character of an on screen hero in the movie. Along with this my first movie Iqbal was really special for me, as a debut actor I gave my best on the screens. I really enjoyed working with Actors Naseeruddin Shah, Girish Karnad, Shreyas Talpade, and Producer Subhash Ghai. It was my good fortune to work with them. After Iqbal, block buster movie “Happy days” got me the name and fame in Tollywood. Lot of people refer to me as “Happy Days Aadarsh”. I am really grateful to Shekar Kamala garu for casting me in the movie.   How does it feel doing a lead role after so many negative roles? After 9 movies I got an opportunity to play a lead. It’s a very mature character and It felt different to do, because in all my movies before this, I played negative roles. But I am very happy with my work and I am looking forward to doing more lead roles after this. What is your Aim? I wanted to be a cricketer but ended up as an actor. I have short term goals for myself. Right now my aim is to be known as a good actor. And I want to do films in as many languages possible. Also,I’d love to travel the world someday.

Interview By:

Diwakar INT/12