" I don't believe in celebrations"

An A- league actor of Tollywood who is one of the big four not to have been caught in the image trap, 'Victory' Venkatesh is always in happy frame of mind. In his 25th year of career as an actor, Venkatesh is all geared up to set the screen on fire with his suspense thriller 'Nagavalli' a sequel to blockbuster film 'Chandramukhi' in which superstar Rajnikanth was the hero.With five heroines in the film, and the Kannada version of the movie being a superhit, Venkatesh is confident, the movie will be a hit here.

"When I saw the Kannada version of the film, I decided, I will do it. Since the past two years, I was searching for scripts like Sherlock Holmes stories. I found this movie and thought it suits our sensibilities. Once I decided to do this movie, I met superstar Rajnikanth. He told me to be myself and natural. He asked me not to get influenced by any actor who has done this film before in other languages. I was just myself and this movie will be full of surprises, twists and is a thrilling experience to watch" the actor says confidently. While the rest of the actors in the country would have screamed from the top of the roof on completing 25 illustrious years of stardom, Venkatesh reveals that he doesn't believe in celebrating occassions for the sake of it.

"I celebrate every moment of my life. I can't fathom that a moment or a day in my life is better than the other ones. I am not the celebrating type.I live life this moment and don't plan anything. I am happy I entered the 25th year of acting. I have learnt that discipline an sincierity go a long way in succeeding in this profession. There is always a scope for betterment in an actor's career and I have learnt to take both success and flops in the same stride. These many years of working have made me realise that we can only put in our effort towards our work but the result is not in our control. I don't credit for where I am today. It is just that I happened to be in the right time at right place. " he says slipping into his favourite topic, spirituality.

While the filmdom's superstar is one of the rare actors in the industry who has been consistent in doing films irrespective of their box office fates, he is of the opinion that actors of the current breed need to do more movies in an year to understand what genre of films work for them. "After being an actor for 25 years like me and many others, it is fare enough to do one or two films an year. But younger actors need to do more movies in an year which is only when they will realise which genre works for them. If they don't try at all, how will they know if the audience like them in those roles?" he questions.

Looking back at how the industry economics have changed ever since he debuted as an actor, Venkatesh says now, the stars have to be very careful in chosing films as the budgets are high and losses are huge if the movie bombs. "Earlier, we used to do films easily as they were of low budgets and even if it flopped, it was a soft blow. But now, we got to estimate the commercial viability of the project before giving them a nod because a flop can lead to losses leading to crores of rupees. There aren't great scripts coming our way too. Industry will start making better cinema if we have new bunch of directors and writers entering the showbizz here." says the actor who lists ' Dharmachakram', 'Prema', 'Ganesh', 'Chanti' as few of his best films.

A star who dedicates his Sundays to meditation and spirituality, Venkatesh thanks his fans, media , family and friends for helping him sail through 25 years of film career.

"My dad Ramanaidu taught us simple living and kept us grounded. He works hard even at this stage and keeps reading scripts. He breathes cinema every moment. He is immensely concerned about the industry and the people working in it. My brother Suresh Babu is a business man who is adept at the economics of this industry. I am glad he took care of this business and is a good friend of mine. If he wouldn''t have taken care of this business, I would have had to take it up. In a way he paved the way for me to be a star. My fans too stood by me all through and so I am dedicating a song for them in 'Nagavalli'. he concludes.