Tanikella Bharani: Peddha Kapu will be one of my career’s most memorable roles

Tanikella Bharani mentions right off the bat that meeting reporters at a press meet is something he does rarely. While character actors like him appear in multiple films a year, which makes it harder for reporters to pin down a specific event to base a set of queries around, Bharani also mentions another reason why his interactions with the press are so far and few in between. “I was not invited to talk to the media when I was starting out. Even when I did, the tone with which I was asked to join was very flippant, almost like an afterthought. Experiences like these made me decide that I should only talk when I am specifically asked to, period.”

The actor is quick to mention that his role in Peddha Kapu-1 is not only quite significant, but also unlike many of the conventional father roles he has been otherwise saddled with lately. “I am tired of these father roles and I am actively avoiding them. Broadly speaking, there are only two kinds of fathers out there. One who says, ‘Oh, I will kill you if you marry this girl.’ or another who goes, ‘You loved this girl, that’s great, now listen to how I wooed your mother’. I have played a father in atleast 300 films. I have acted as a dad this year in 18 films alone. I am done.” declares Bharani, laughing.

Cutting a refreshing contrast amidst the series of character roles, the actor speaks with pride and fondness about writing Telugu dialogues for the Ponniyin Selvan duology. Talking in length about his return to screenwriting, Bharani says, “I am too old to work as a writer for directors, comply to their diktats as they ask for multiple rewrites. But I go way back with Mani Ratnam. I have also worked with Suhasini in many films. I was supposed to work with him in Thalapathi (1991) but after a look test, he very politely told me that I was too young for the role. Since then, I have always wanted to work with him. While I was doing patchwork for Acharya (2022), I got a call from Madras Talkies. I initially thought I was contacted for an acting role, but it was for writing dialogues. I was shocked, I have not written in forever.”

Continuing to talk about his association with the film, he says, “The Tamil spoken in the PS films was very archaic. For the Telugu version, Mani wanted something more accessible. It was not supposed to be too pedantic or too modern. We took a month to come up with all the lines for Telugu dialogues.”

The writing gig also led Bharani to provide his voice for the character of Jayaram, who played the role of the Vaishnavaite spy Alwarkadiyan Nambi in the film. Speaking about his association with Jayaram, Bharani says, “I got a lot of compliments for my voice acting in the films. But I was so much in awe of Jayaram’s performance. He was brilliant. As a matter of fact, we were working together in Dhamaka (2022), when PS 1 came out. I immediately enquired about his whereabouts, rushed to his caravan and touched his feet. I told him I loved his performance and that he might even get a National Award for it.”

Quickly ending the retelling of that sentimental anecdote, Bharani quips, laughing. “Okay enough of Ponniyin Selvan, let's talk about Peddha Kapu. Isn’t that the reason why we are here today?” The actor continues, “I play a frustrated intellectual in Peddha Kapu, you see roles like these mostly in art films. He is a schoolteacher to be precise, frustrated with the wrongs in society. The entire film is a brainchild of the director’s vision but I am more of an audience surrogate here, providing a bit of the outsider’s perspective. It is a great role, easily the best I have done in recent times.”

Speaking more about the film and his association with Srikanth Addala, the director of Peddha Kapu, Bharani says, “No doubt, Peddha Kapu is going to be a very bold film. And it is definitely different from the family-oriented, philosophical films he has made earlier. But he has retained the Telugudhanam and the Godavari nativity. But this is a very angry film.I enjoyed working in this film a lot, it is going to be one of the most memorable roles in my career.”

When enquired upon what Bharani considers as his career’s most memorable roles, the actor hesitates to choose. “I have done 800 films in the span of four decades. How can I choose?” he asks. But upon prodding a little, requesting him to name a few for the sake of the interview, the actor picks Mathru Devo Bhava (1993), Ladies Tailor (1986), Sri Kanakamahalakshmi Recording Dance Troupe (1988), Shiva (1990), Manmadhudu (2002) and Athadu (2005). “Sometimes it is not even about the length of the role, as much as it is about the impact. For instance, I played a very small role in Gaddalakonda Ganesh (2019), that of an assistant director. I got more than 100 calls from ADs saying my role resonated with their experiences in the film industry.” says Bharani.

Bharani has not returned to direction after helming the critically acclaimed Mithunam in 2012. Does he have plans to make a film in the near future? He replies grimly. “There is no market for the kind of films I want to make, to be honest. People say OTT is an avenue for films that may not be feasible for a theatrical release, but that space has become thoroughly commercial as well. I cannot possibly make such violent, profanity-laden content.”

So does he believe the parallel cinema aesthetics of a K Viswanath, a Bapu and a Tanikella Bharani are truly dead? “No, it will be back soon. After a man eats every kind of food and goes to a doctor with an upset tummy, he will be  asked to eat beerakaya paalu, no? Similarly, there will be a time when people will find themselves tired of the things they are watching now, and will return back to something more mellow and sublime.” assures Bharani, with the confidence of a veteran who has seen it all.