Understanding Rajeev ‘inside-out’

Metro India News | Hyderabad : Actor Rajeev Kanakala, who has built a distinct identity in Telugu cinema beyond the hero slot and appeared in more than 250 films, had a long conversation with ‘Vijayakranthi’ on a career of more than 35 years, the choices he has made, and the state of the industry now. Looking back, he said he is simply happy to still be working. That filmmakers still keep offering him different characters, or decide a part suits him feels like luck, and he said he is thankful to the Telugu film industry for it. On OTT and theatrical films, he said there is no real difference. The effort has to be the same.

Web series, he said, must also match film quality, or audiences will not accept them. OTT has kept not just character actors but heroes, comedians and others busy, and he is happy to see the industry active despite occasional failures. He once feared theatres would empty as audiences shifted entirely to OTT, but families continue enjoying films on both platforms. The industry, he said, should be grateful to audiences, as films can thrive only when people keep watching.

Content, he stressed, matters more than scale. A well-told film made for a few crores, such as Little Hearts, can succeed, while a Rs 500–600-crore film can fail if its writing and performances are weak. Roles must be well written and actors must perform naturally. Recalling his Best Supporting Actor recognition for Little Hearts, he thanked director Sai Marthand for crafting the middle-class father with subtlety, and producer Aditya Hasan and the team for offering him the role.

Among roles closest to himself he named Sye, Vikramarkudu, Janatha Garage and Nannaku Prematho, the last of which begins in a grey shade before Jr NTR’s character explains matters and the father feels the weight of his mistake. The buoyant, positive energy of his part in Student No. 1 also feels near to him, as does the innocent, understated brother he played in Nuvve Nuvve. Many other strong characters, he added, have brought him good name.

Of his wife, anchor Suma, he said her day often feels closer to 48 hours than 24. She writes scripts for interviews and pre-release events, plans food for differing tastes at home, speaks daily with her YouTube team, has started a Skill Pro course for people who want to learn anchoring and speaking, attends hospital visits and family events, and runs the NGO Festivals for Joy, checking requests carefully before helping. Problems in places such as Visakhapatnam keep arising. He said he has done nothing special except not stand in the way of her work. He complimented that she inspires many women, and men as well, in how to handle a house and a career together.

Talking about his likes and dislikes, Rajeev Kanakala said that he was not always particular about food. After his father’s death he began eating more deliberately. His father, a serious food lover and an excellent cook, used to insist that an actor must know tastes as he knows the nine rasas, or he cannot be complete, and that life should be enjoyed through flavor. He recalled that in his father’s last days they served whatever he wanted.

 He mentioned that when a performance he rates highly draws little response, he does not dwell on it but keeps moving. There are no prolonged celebrations or prolonged regrets. Detachment, learned from his father, treats both as momentary.