A Jabardast career

Abhinaya Krishna made his debut in Tollywood with Prabhas starrer ‘Eeshwar’ and he is currently part of the hit comedy series ‘Jabardast’, which airs on ETV. In a candid interview the actor talks about his show and upcoming movie

How did you foray into the industry?
When I was performing at Ravindra Bharati, one of the friends of Jayanth C Paranjee saw me and shared a word about me to him for the film ‘Eeshwar’ with Prabhas. Fortunately, I got the opportunity when I was studying my MSc Computer Science.

How did ‘Jabardast’ happen?
When I was doing ‘Rangam’- a celebrity dance show on MAA TV, people liked my banter. At the same time, I came to know from my friend that, ‘Adurs’ director from ETV will direct a show called ‘Jabardast’, a comedy show. When I shared with him that I want to be part of the show, he asked me prepare three skits for auditions. That’s how I bagged the role.

From Abhinay Krishna to Adire Abhi, how was the transformation?
My real name is Hari Krishna (Laughs). Dr C Narayana Reddy sir witnessed my performance once and told me that the name Hari Krishna did not suit me at all and I should change the name. I asked him to suggest some good name and then he christened me as “Abhinay Krishna”. “Adire Abhi” is a comic part of Abhinaya Krishna.

Why are you working in direction department of ‘Baahubali-2’?
I directed a short film three-years-ago ‘Seven Minutes’. It got more than two million views till now. I showed the short film to Rajamouli sir and Valli ma’am. Both of them liked it. Recently, when ‘Baahubali-2’ was under production, I thought I should learn more about direction and I joined the team. Working in ‘Baahubali-2’ will surely help me in this craft.

Can you now tell us, why Kattappa killed Baahubali?
If I tell that here, Rajamouli sir will kill me and people will start asking why Rajamouli killed Adire Abhi (Laughs)?

How are you managing your time between ‘Baahubali-2’, ‘Jabardast’ and your software job?
I work from 6 am to 6 pm for ‘Baahubali-2’, and from 6:30 pm to 11:30 pm. I workfrom home for my software job. Whenever I get time I work on my Jabardast skits. And, at the time of the shooting ‘Jabardast’, I take leave from ‘Baahubali-2’ and my job.

What type of competition spirit exists in ‘Jabardast’? Is there any animosity between you all?
I don’t think anyone shares enmity with anyone. We are not fighting for any power. You are simply presenting your skit and it depends on your talent. Skits fail due to lack of talent and for that reason you can’t hold a grudge against anyone. I think we meet on sets only. Otherwise, we are busy practising our skits or in our personal lives.

You are going to debut as hero in the movie ‘Breaking News’, share something about it?
The movie is directed by Narasimha Nandi, who bagged National Award for the film ‘1940 Oka Gramam Lo’ in 2010. This movie is about animal safety, where you have commercial elements, a message to everyone and people can see me in a different role. It’s completely performance oriented role. We are done with the shooting and it is under postproduction. It will release in a couple of months.