Even if I get a Bollywood film, I’d prefer to be here: Mahesh Babu

During the promotions of Spyder, Mahesh Babu expressed his commitment to doing good cinema and balancing it with his faith in entertainers. Going by the hype surrounding Spyder by AR Murugadoss, Mahesh, it seems, has cracked the formula. “It is my biggest film, and working with Murugadoss was a life-changing experience,” said the actor.

Mahesh said that the experience of shooting for Spyder was completely different from anything he has ever done. “It’s not just because it is a bilingual. The film is the first-of-its kind in Indian cinema,” he said.

“We shot in two languages at once, and it was so difficult. Sometimes, my mind would go blank and it was exhausting physically too. But Murugadoss kept us all motivated.”

Mahesh has dubbed for the Tamil version himself and said that though he is fluent in Tamil, it took a long time to finish. “I usually dub for my Telugu films in two to three days, but the Tamil version took 15 days. Murugadoss sat patiently with me and made sure that I got the diction right. I had go back for some corrections too,” he said.

The actor also spoke about the rapport he shares with SJ Suryah, who plays the villain in the film. “The film’s a war between the good and evil. The villain character naturally is very important. Initially, I was taken aback by Murugadoss’ choice of SJ Suryah, but two days later, I realised only he could have done justice to the role.”

The actor said that Spyder is bigger than most Bollywood films. “The scale of the budget is very exciting. The market in South India has grown immensely,” he observed. “More than 1,000 people were part of this film.”

On his likely foray into Bollywood, Mahesh minced no words and said that his hands are full with projects in Telugu cinema. “The South film industry is huge today. Even if I get an opportunity in Bollywood, I would prefer to be here,” he said.

(With inputs from Murali Krishna CH)