NTR Jr On Reinventing Himself With Jai Lava Kusa

NTR Jr is back with his latest drama Jai Lava Kusa in which he has played triple roles. The film has been making waves in Telugu film industry with all the spotlight on NTR's performance and he has reinvented himself to play a negative character, who also stammers. Ahead of the film's release, Film Companion South sat down with the star for an exclusive interview about his career, life, and change in his personal and professional life.

"I was really naughty when I was a kid, and I think everyone should enjoy a phase like that. Fortunately, I fell in love with Kuchipudi and I even performed at several stage shows in USA, England, Hyderabad, and Madras. Even my mother used to tell me a lot of mythological stories, and more than that, I've always had an influence of my grandfather on my life. Maybe all these factors have helped me to recite lengthy monologues in my films over the years," NTR says, adding, "I was a lot into gaming until 5 years ago. I used to lie at home to play video games like Contra and Super Mario, and later, I got hooked on to to Play Station."

Last year, while talking about what had changed in his life in the recent past, the actor confessed that it was a moment of truth when he looked at himself in the mirrors and acknowledging the scars on his body. "I don't think my scars are going to heal anytime soon. Why should they? They look at war trophies to me, and I feel like a hero. I can look at myself and be happy that I've had the courage to face them head on and move on in life," he says, talking about how he dealt with failures.

Ever since he became a father in mid 2014, NTR Jr's rough patch in his career too came to an end. "My son's birth was a wake up call for me. Every time I hold him, I have butterflies in my stomach. He's 3.5 years old now and has just started going to school, and he's the most important person in my life right now. If I've to sign a film, it has to excite me enough to step out of my house and be away from my son & family," he says. Admittedly, Jai Lava Kusa was one of the toughest films in his career considering that he had to play three different roles, out of which Jai has a stammering issue. "The role is sort of inspired from Ravana and a lot of thought process went into designing the character. Right from how he would walk and look, to how to pull off the stammer convincingly," NTR adds.

Gone are the days where he would run after success, and by his own admission, this change in perspective has helped him immensely to tap into the actor in him. "For the longest time, I didn't know what people expected from me. Nothing I did was working. It was only after I realised that everyone expects me to make a genuine effort and make good films that things began to change slowly. Now, it's no longer about box-office results. I'm doing films for my own satisfaction now," NTR confesses.

NTR was barely 17 when he scored his first hit (Student No 1), and by the time he turned 20, he was a star with films like Aadhi and Simhadri to his credit. It's been a rough ride ever since and the actor acknowledges that he didn't know how to handle the fame. "I have absolutely no control over what was happening in my life. I knew my career was going downhill, but then, I had a belief that I would bounce back. I didn't make the same mistakes again. But to be honest, when you are famous at 22, I don't think you have the mental capacity to handle it. Handling fame is the toughest thing on the planet."