Sid on a roll

With his 'Something Something' getting good reviews and many interesting projects lined up, including his dream film, a period drama with award winning director Vasantha Balan, and his home production "Y Not Studios" set to produce three films, actor Siddharth is on a roll Nagaraj Goud Currently in Madurai shooting for his Telugu-Tamil bilingual with 'Pizza' fame director Karthik Subbaraj, actor Siddharth has a lot going on in his career at this juncture. In a conversation, the actor speaks about his shooting experiences especially when the unit had to work in extreme cold conditions for his new flick 'Something Something'. "Dance and shooting in cold conditions scares the hell out of me. And the worst part for 'Something Something' was to dance in -6 degrees at Japan's famous 100 feet snow wall. But director Sundar C was there beside me and ensured that I pulled it off," he smiles and continues, "The last time a south Indian film was shot at Japan was 29 years ago." Speaking about his co-stars in the film, a Tamil-Telugu bilingual, he says, "If it wasn't for Brahmanandam garu, I wouldn't have made the film in Telugu. Hansika, in a sense, was re-launched by Sundar. She's learning and getting better day by day. The chemistry between Brahmanandam, Hansika and me is 'Something Something'." Shooting with Sundar was like going back to his initial days in the filmdom, he recollects, "His sets are very small and are usually filled with youngsters as assistant directors. Because of the young blood there has always been energy that keeps an actor going. I re-visited the days when I've assisted my guru Mani Ratnam for 'Amrutha'." With his last film 'Udhayam NH4' (NH4 in Telugu) declared a hit in Tamil Nadu and dud in Andhra, does he feel that he failed to promote it well in Tollywood, owing to the fact that critics embraced it over here too? "I don't know. It was never a Telugu film in the first place and maybe it was not the right time for a suspense thriller to release in Telugu," he responds.

The actor has a lot to look forward to, what with multiple projects, one of which is his 'dream project' with National-award winning director Vasantha Balan. "I've been travelling with him for the past three years for this film. A period drama, it will be my most challenging film till date. The working title is 'Emperor of Dreams'. We plan to go on floors in August and are expected to shoot over a period of one year," he says and continues, "The film with Karthik Subbaraj is a crime-comedy. 'Gajaraju' fame Lakshmi Menon is playing the female lead." He will be collaborating with his favourite composer AR Rahman for this film, said to be based on real life relationship between acclaimed singers KB Sundarambal and SG Kitappa. "Having worked with him on multiple occasions he was keen on me making a film with him for a long time. I told him that I will come back to him with a dream project. When we narrated 'Emperor of Dreams', he said yes 'this is the one'. It will be the first AR Rahman musical and I can proudly say that," says the actor as his eyes light up. On the production front too, the actor who has produced the successful' Love Failure' last year, has his plans cut out for the future. "'Y Not Studios' will be making three films from February next year. I believe in meticulous planning. The script work of the films is in progress," he reveals. Mind you the actor has entered into the filmdom to make a career in filmmaking albeit destiny had other plans. However, he is not off target. "When I was 14, I said to my father that I want to direct films and no matter what, I will keep that word for sure. Right now I don't have time. I can't direct and act side by side." In the industry over a decade, the actor still looks like he is a young actor, just about to make his debut. Does he work out? "I'm a food addict. Instead of hitting the gym I hit the kitchen often as I cook a lot. The good thing is that it doesn't show. I sleep a lot too," he smiles.