Ali has played a 40-minute role in 'F3', which is heading to theatres on May 27. In this interview, the senior comedian talks about what he thinks about the comedy entertainer, working with Venkatesh and director Anil Ravipudi, the era of pan-Indian movies, the need to regulate OTTs, and his upcoming movies.
Everyone is going to enjoy watching 'F3'. You are going to get a bang for the buck! I am sure everyone will want to watch it on repeat.
Speaking about my character, you will see my style of comedy. I enjoyed playing the role. 'F3' has been watched by producer Shirish almost 35 times. He has liked the movie completely. My character in the film respects women a lot. The length of my character is up to 40 minutes. Each of the artist has performed amazingly.
Venkatesh garu and Varun Tej have played to their strengths. We shot the film with a number of artists in a happy mood. The mood was always celebratory and the entire shoot proceeded like a tour!
SV Krishna Reddy garu was a star director when he made me a male lead. I am not doing too many movies because I am not desperate. I have done 'F3' because I have known Anil Ravipudi for many years. Anil's father and the father of 'Thammadu' director Arun Prasad are brothers. Even when so many artists are present on the set, Anil is never tense. He is always cool and calm. He is also fortunate to find someone like Dil Raju as a producer.
Venkatesh garu has got amazing comic timing. We have seen the likes of Chiranjeevi garu, Mohan Babu garu, Pawan Kalyan garu, Jr NTR garu, Mahesh Babu garu (referring to 'Khaleja'), and others with great comic timing.
I am also doing Vijay Deverakonda's 'Kushi', 'Liger', Sharwanand's 'Oke Oka Jeevitham', Nani's 'Ante Sundaraniki', and a web series. I am also doing a Kannada film starring Dhruva Sajja (the nephew of Arjun).
Bollywood is fearing Southern movies these days. We are passionate about movies. There has been a sense of respect towards our movies always. Southern actors are loved by one and all. Many years ago, I, my wife, and my daughter were in Dubai to attend an awards function. A Taxiwala recognized me and started reeling off the names of Telugu actors. I was surprised to know that he is an Afghanistani. I was surprised to know that Gopichand is popular among people in Ladakh!
We rope in Hindi-speaking actors in our movies by teaching them the language and everything. In the past few years, Southern movies' stamina has been proven to them!
I don't call myself a South Indian actor. I am an Indian actor. It has always been my wish to see southern movies go places!
I feel soldiers must be respected by one and all. We need to be empathetic towards them. If you come across a soldier, stand up and talk. They feel very happy when you care about them!
SV Krishna Reddy garu made me a film hero. Jaganmohan Reddy garu is making me a political leader.
Many audiences want to watch movies on Day One. OTTs are inevitable. But OTTs must be regulated by the government. Last time, at the Film Nagar Cultural Committee meet, I expressed the wish that OTTs must be regulated. That will protect the interests of film producers, actors, directors, etc.
