Mahesh Babu: Maharshi will be an answer to people who complain I look the same in every film

Mahesh Babu is confident that his 25th film Maharshi, an action entertainer which hits the screens on May 9, ticks all the right boxes. He is sporting three different looks in the film directed by Vamshi Paidipally. "People have been complaining that I'm not experimenting with my apperance and look the same in every film. This time, I have gone an extra mile and will be seen in three distinct roles (a college student, business tycoon and a farmer) in the film, which I believe has come out really well," says Mahesh. Of the three, Mahesh says he enjoyed playing a college student a lot. "It's been almost 20 years since I played a similar character filled with humour. The college portions run for 45 minutes and it was really challenging to pull off that part as it's hard to convince the audience I, who have worked in 24 films, am a college-goer. It took time to convince myself to get into the skin of the character," explains Mahesh, dismissing any similarities with 3 Idiots. 

Initially, Mahesh was reluctant to sign Maharshi and wanted to bid goodbye to Vamshi after 20-minute narration. But he gave it a shot and on the 45-minute mark, he was "completely blown away by the plot Vamshi had chosen for Maharshi. He is an honest filmmaker, who waited two years for me to start working on this project. All these years, he has made several improvisations with his co-writers Hari-Solomon and arrived with a bound script. The film has a powerful social message, which I think will influence people. My eyes became moist during dubbing due to its inspirational storyline loaded with essential humanism and sincere emotions. I'm really pleased with the output and I believe Maharshi is going to be a blockbuster," reckons Mahesh. 

The film also presents Allari Naresh in a supporting role. "Vamshi was keen to cast him in this role and we are grateful to him (Naresh) for being a part of the journey of Maharshi. At the moment, I don't want to spoil the party giving details about his character," says Mahesh.

Despite being one of the busiest actors of Telugu cinema, Mahesh -- in a career spanning over two decades as a hero, has done only 25 films. The actor, who is at the peak of his career says that it was a conscious decision to work on one film a year and says he prefers to take his time keeping in view the high stakes in mind. “I haven’t become complacent as an actor, but refused to compromise on the script and want all my directors to arrive with a bound script. Gone are the days where an actor used to work in 300-400 films in his career. Today, things have drastically changed that we are celebrating 25 films. Also, the stakes are high on our films and we need to put in a lot of effort to reach the expectations. The lack of quality scripts is yet another reason for me to take on one film at a time,” points out the Dookudu actor.

Can we see you in a historical character? The actor quickly says, “I can think about it only if directors like SS Rajamouli come forward with such stories and characterisations. Otherwise, I can’t convince myself portraying such roles as I fear working in historical films,” signs off Mahesh.

[Photo credits: Madapu Vinay Kumar]