Adivi Sesh: For audience, they’re only Indian films

Baahubali-fame actor Adivi Sesh, after the release of his first Hindi film, says that if makers in the regional film industry want their films to be watched across the country, then they need to shoot them in Hindi.

On his recent visit to Lucknow, he says, “See, the audience never demarcates if the film is in Tamil, Telugu, Kannada or Hindi. Perhaps the perception of regional films was there in the industry. For audience, they’re just Indian films! It’s a mistake of our actors who were afraid to venture in Hindi films. We realised this very late, in fact after the success of Baahubali, KGF and Pushpa: The Rise.”

The writer-actor gives example of TV and OTT where Hindi-dubbed South Indian films are a big hit and are always trending.

“Now, as makers are focusing on pan India content so they are going an extra mile to shoot in Hindi which according to me is absolutely correct! If we want everyone to watch our films everywhere then we need to respect the Hindi audience. It was very important for us to use every word, language and lip movement as in the original and not just dub it. That’s the reason we shot Major in Hindi and Tamil and Kannada,” he says.

The actor who has studied in the US wrote the script of his film in English and it was then written in other languages.

Sesh realised about the importance if Hindi after success of his films. “I come from outside the business so I started with smaller role and Baahubali was my last role as a villain. In 2016, I did Kshanam as the lead which was a big hit and it has a remake in Hindi as Baaghi2. So, the combined success gave me confidence that what we need to think big.”

Going forward Sesh will be shooting three films that will be suitably shot in Hindi as well as regional languages. “Like my previous film, we will make films down south for all-India audience but rooted well in our culture. After coming to Lucknow and knowing about subsidy, maybe we can shoot here at the upcoming film city but only if our story demands. When you shoot a film in studios it just doesn’t matter which city it is — it can be Mumbai, Hyderabad or UP, you can come up with a set there but here the plus point is the subsidy we get which surely help filmmakers!”

On why he chose a biopic for his first Hindi film instead of another fantasy, he says, “There is nothing wrong in fantasy and larger-than-life films but then that’s not my personality! When I move around many suggest to take a few bouncers along but that’s not me. Mujhe zyada dikhawa zyada pasand nahi hai — in films or in real life! I don’t want ki log mera swag se swagat karein, dil se kare woh mere liye kaafi hai…”