By Hindustan Times
Telugu star Ram Charan Teja isn't fluent in Hindi, but that's not more likely to are available in the way in which of his Bollywood debut project - Zanjeer remake - as his character lets his silence speak. Nevertheless, the actor is taking Hindi tutorials.
Teja, who's superstar Chiranjeevi's son, will play the role of cop Vijay, a silently seething social outcast.
"I'm engaged on my Hindi evidently. I HAVE a tutor to show me the nuances. Waise meri Hindi utni buri nahin hai (Anyway, my Hindi isn't that bad). But yes, it is a character who screams through his silence," said Teja.
"So let's just say I'd let my silence speak louder than my words. That's how my director Apoorva Lakhia and that i are engaged on my character," he added.
For now, Teja has larger concerns to cope with -- like getting into megastar Amitabh Bachchan's shoes. Big B, because the latter is fondly called, played Vijay within the original film.
"So far coping with being Chiranjeevi's son was a challenge enough. But that challenge is nothing compared to what I face now. To get into the distance of India's biggest star-actor is a prospect that i'm not brooding over," said Teja.
But he is not mulling over prospective comparison with the much senior Amitabh.
"If I BELIEVE about how I WILL BE compared in our Zanjeer with Mr. Bachchan, I WOULD NOT have the ability to get into it. I've constantly lived under the shadow of comparisons.
"When I BEGAN in Telugu cinema in 2007, I USED TO BE judged because the great Chiranjeevi's son. If I cowered, thinking I USED TO BE being seen only as an heir-apparent and never an individual, I'd has been immobilised. I just did what came naturally to me," he said.
Teja's father Chiranjeevi too tried his luck in Hindi films like Pratibandh and Mera Maqsad, and the young actor feels that language is not any bar for him.
"He did some films in Hindi after which returned to Telugu cinema. The arena has shrunk since then. To me, Hindi cinema is solely an extension of what I'm already doing. No matter what the language of a movie is. A FILM is a film on the end of the day," he said.
Apart from Zanjeer, Teja's most well-known Telugu film Magadheera could be remade in Hindi.
But Teja says he is not focused on doing the film in Hindi.
"I'm done with that character and role. Magadheera was a unique challenge. But to recreate that challenge can be of little need. I'd rather do a Zanjeer which have been done earlier by another actor. I'd love to see where I WILL take that role," he said.
There also are plans to bring the father-son duo together on screen soon.
"My father has completed 149 films. I'M HOPING to supply his 150th film and be a part of it as an actor as well," said Teja, who has no plans of having into politics like his father.
"I'm happy being an actor. I DO NOT see myself within the role of a political candidate at all," he said.
But was there a large number of politics in southern movies?
"Not at all," said Teja, adding: "WE ALL in Telugu cinema who're working as leading men, share a standard platform. We're competitors on screen. But once we're out of the studios we're one big family.
"In that sense, cinema is lots like politics. My father says when he enters the Assembly, the entire politicians debate, argue and fight. But after they are done, they become friends again."
