Anand Deverakonda: For ‘Gam Gam Ganesha’, I turned my fears into motivational factors

Anand Deverakonda discusses his role in Gam Gam Ganesha, a crime-comedy film, and his approach to acting.

In a fictional village near Kurnool, a small-time thief gets caught in conspiracies and what follows is a cocktail of crime and comedy. Gam Gam Ganesha, written and directed by first-timer Uday Shetty, will feature actor Anand Deverakonda as a gregarious protagonist quite different from the man-next-door characters he has done so far.

In this interview in Hyderabad, talking about the film scheduled to release in theatres on May 31, the actor says, “Gam Gam… is far removed from my default state of calmness. There is an energetic side of me that comes out only in the company of close buddies. In this film, I sport spiked hair, and a tattoo and am hyper.” Initially, he wondered if people would warm up to the character. “Such questions stemmed from fear and I used them as motivational factors to do something new.”

Gam Gam Ganesha came his way when Middle Class Melodies was still underway. By then, Anand had got over the initial awkwardness he had in his debut film Dorasaani. He says it was incidental that his first few films required him to play characters close to reality.

“In Middle Class Melodies, Vinod (director Vinod Anantoju) gave me a placid character that required me to play it on an even keel. During that time, I would watch Malayalam films and was keen to do something in a realistic space. Even in Baby, I did not go overboard except in the scene where I am driving Vaishnavi to the theatre to watch a film. Director Sai Rajesh showed me how I should portray it.”

Uday Shetty, making his directorial debut with Gam Gam Ganesha, has been a writer for Vijayendra Prasad and K V Anudeep. While GGG is perceived to be in the zone of Telugu films such as Swamy Ra Ra, Run Raja Run and Express Raja, Anand reveals that in the discussion stages, the reference points ranged from the animation film Rango to Pirates of the Caribbean and Hot Fuzz. “There were small inspirations in terms of the mood we tried to achieve. Uday, Emmanuel (co-star) and I discussed quite a bit to get the right wavelength.”

Those who know of Anand’s career trajectory would be aware that he worked in the corporate sector before pursuing his dreams in cinema. One of the things that has not changed from those corporate days is Anand’s disinterest in looking into the mirror. “I would look into the mirror only when I needed to shave when I had a corporate job. Even today, I do not have the urge to check my makeup and hair just before going for the shot or checking the monitor after I am done. I rely on the director to tell me if things are fine.” His brother, Vijay Deverakonda, Anand says, has a different approach: “The minute he is done with a shot, he is intently thinking if he has got it right. He checks the monitor and plans what he needs to do next.”

This lack of vanity perhaps helped Anand get over camera consciousness in the early stages of his career. He recalls beginning to feel at ease during Middle Class Melodies. “My dad would say that when things click, you stop worrying about the angle from which you are filmed.”