Havish Koneru: Nenu Ready is about everyday problems faced by regular people
Havish Koneru made a promising debut in 2011 with Nuvvila, a quirky new-age comedy. While the film emerged as a sleeper hit, running in just 10 theatres for almost a year, Havish’s career veered in unexpected directions in the subsequent years, including venturing into production, among other things.
2025 marks a bona fide comeback for the actor-producer, who has many projects lined up, like Nenu Ready (with Trinadha Rao Nakkina) and Yes Boss, among others. In an exclusive conversation with CE, Havish Koneru looks back at his journey and shares his roadmap for the future.
Excerpts:
How did Nenu Ready materialise?
Trinadha gaaru and I have known each other for three years. We had thought of collaborating earlier, but our film got postponed after his film Dhamaka became a big hit. A few months ago, he sent me a story. I liked it, thinking he was seeking my advice, but turns out the story was written for me. We shot for two days while Mazaka shoot was going on. Right after Mazaka released, we resumed shooting. We have only finished the first schedule, but this will come before Yes Boss for sure. Ashok gaaru takes his time in the post-production process.
Tell us about your role in Nenu Ready.
My character in Nenu Ready is a middle-class guy who saves up money to buy a house. The film talks about the small challenges faced by regular people, their day-to-day issues, and the comedy that comes out of it. Nenu Ready has a huge canvas, with over 40 characters.
Your last acting project, Seven, was released in 2019. Why such a long break from acting?
COVID happened right after Seven released, and poof, two years were gone like that. Later, I got into production and made Rakshasudu, Khiladi, and Oh Manapenne. Rakshasudu became a big hit. It was our first production, and I realised I can’t do parallel stuff at once, so I decided to take it slow.
When did you develop an interest in acting?
I had no plans. A big producer came to our house as a guest, saw my pictures, and asked me to act in his film. I was studying engineering in the US then, and I told him there was no way I could act. However, my dad convinced me to give it a try. “Not everyone gets good opportunities,” he said. I then went to an acting school, that’s where I developed interest.
How was the acting school experience?
I remember it was 2010 or so, a year before I worked in Nuvvila. Satyanand gaaru was in Hyderabad, making a film. So we got trained in Hyderabad, even though his academy is in Visakhapatnam. He would come to our house and teach a batch of three, including me. He didn’t want to take any students that year, but we insisted. So he would come after the shoot or during breaks. We got lucky.
Satyanand gaaru taught us about the importance of the unconscious movement of our bodies. He wouldn’t approve of it. Let’s say if you move your arm or place a finger on the table, he would ask why you did that. You then had to explain. That control helped me a lot in my craft.
Any role you found particularly challenging in your career so far?
All of my roles have been challenging in different ways. The first time I faced the camera, I could hear my dialogue echo in my ears — I was that nervous and shy. Like in Yes Boss, I am working with Brahmanandam. The entire movie revolves around us and our chemistry. The humour is similar to movies like Dhee and Ready.
How has it been working with a legend like him?
Shaking hands with someone like Brahmanandam is a big deal in itself. So sharing screen, that’s almost like a lifetime achievement for me. Brahmanandam gaaru is such a great person, always encouraging. He treated me like his own child.
When did the idea of getting into production strike you?
Ramesh gaaru, who produced Seven, got a chance to produce Rakshasudu. He told me, ‘Why don’t you produce? We will make this together.’ I told him I don’t want to act and produce at once, so I asked him to bring an outsider hero.
What were the initial challenges as a producer?
When you are working just as an actor, you don’t understand the producers’ problems. If it gets late on the shoot, you feel like ‘these guys are torturing me’ (laughs). Once you see the other side, you get why the delays happen and how lots of things are not in your hands.
You feel more from the producers’ side then. I would now want to cooperate more if they want to finish off a movie early or reschedule a shoot at the last minute.
Do you have any go-to people for advice about filmmaking?
Not really. Nobody is successful throughout. Even the most successful people make occasional mistakes and lose money. This industry keeps changing so fast that everyone has to learn every day. I think one should know the basics of production, where one learns the balance of not wasting money on unnecessary elements, but also putting in enough for quality output.
What are your long-term plans as a producer?
We will keep making films with outsider heroes. I don’t want to do movies for the sake of it. We were supposed to do a Tamil film, but the numbers didn’t work out, so we dropped the project. We are still pursuing projects in other languages as well.
You also have big plans for KLH (Deemed to be) University. Can you tell us about that?
I am the vice-president of KLH (Deemed to be) University. It has been my brainchild from inception until now. We want to establish this as a world-class university. I feel the education system everywhere has been completely wrong so far.
There are many differences between real-world work and what’s taught at universities. How to reach real skill and knowledge, where a graduate should be readily employable, I am trying to address that problem.