Humbled by Bekkam’s trust in me

Parvateesam aka Nookaraju on fracturing his leg prior to ‘Nanna Nenu Naa Boyfriends’ rolling on, prepping up to play a priest and future plans

The teaser of Hebah Patel-starrer ‘Nanna Nenu Naa Boyfriends’, which released recently, has received positive response from netizens and Parvateesam aka Nookaraju, one of the film’s leading actors, admits he couldn’t have asked for more.

He tells us that as soon as he signed the movie, he fractured his leg, thwarting producer Bekkam Venugopal’s shoot plans to an extent. “I was in two minds whether I could pull off the role (that of a priest) or not and was keen on some time for prep. Around this time, I slipped on stairs, fracturing my leg.

Doctors advised me to take a couple of months rest and I told my producer that he can go with other actors if I was delaying the movie but he was kind enough to say that he would wait for me. I used the time for prep. I’ve watched numerous videos of how priests go about their daily routines at temples and met them in person too,” he shares.

He plays Narendra Mohanashastry in the romantic comedy. He, like the other two key male roles (played by Noel Sean and Ashwin Babu), falls in love with the part played by Hebah Patel. “He is a priest in Hyderabad and his dream is to serve at Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam. However, he sacrifices it for his love. Does he get her or will the other two pip him is what the film all about,” he reveals.

Bhasker Bandi, VV Vinayak’s former assistant, is making his debut as a director with ‘Nanna Nenu Naa Boyfriends’ and the actor describes him as a cool and level-headed person who knows his craft very well. Wasn’t he nervous to shoot with ace cinematographer Chota K Naidu who is known for his temper? He admits that he was a bundle of nervous on day one as Chota is a well-respected figure in the industry.

“Nonetheless, he created a friendly atmosphere for me on sets. I generally take multiple takes to give the right shot and he was more than happy with it. He even allowed me to check my shots on monitor, which is a rarity for a newcomer.”

Next up, while he has listened to 20 scripts of late, nothing caught his fancy except one, ‘Kerala Kutti,’ by short filmmaker Sudeep. “The moment I heard it, I felt it was in my zone and was sure that I can add a lot to it. It’s set in the backdrop of Amalapuram. We have even sat on it for 10-15 days and fleshed it out. I want to do it next but we are waiting for a good producer. We can make it under Rs 1 crore.”