Telugu star Nani's latest film, The Paradise, opened in the theatres to massive earnings and officially marked the star's first ₹50 crore opening. Within days of its opening, the film stormed past ₹100 crore in India net collections and crossed the ₹150 crore mark in worldwide collections.
However, beyond the numbers, the film opened to mixed-to-negative criticism online. Addressing the chatter, Nani revealed that he knew what would work in the film and what wouldn’t when he watched the final cut just days before its release.
In an exclusive conversation with The Hollywood Reporter India after the film’s release, he spoke about his approach of watching his films like an audience member rather than a star, and how that perspective made all the stress leading up to the release worth it.
"I'm not from a cinema background. The people I'm surrounded with are extremely honest to me. There's no filter at all." He revealed that even some of his biggest hits were met at home with the same bluntness. "My friends and family would say, 'We don't want to watch that film, we didn't like it at all...' So I was always very close to reality."
This quality has kept him from getting carried away. "I don't really go along with people who comfort me. I don't want to believe what is comforting to my ears."
He adds that seeing himself as one among the audience helps him realise that if he enjoys a project, there’s a good chance viewers will enjoy it too. "I've always watched films in the theatre; I know that I am one among the audience. I don't think the audience is a separate entity. I always feel that if I like it, they would like it too... I'm one of them."
After watching The Paradise, he says that he had already registered much of the criticism that followed after the film's release.
"Anything they (the audience) have been mentioning, logically or something where it dipped or something which didn't work for them... I did see all of that. I felt that before. I also knew which portions would work and land."
Nani also said that he had concerns about how certain aspects of the film would land, even extended to his now-landmark braided hairstyle. "We were very worried in the beginning that this might backfire. It's quite a crazy idea." With a relieved and relaxed grin he adds, "Luckily, I think everyone liked me in braids!"
He explains that the ability to be detached from his own work makes the assessment clear. "As long as you can be detached from your own work and see it as the audience, it will always be clear. And I don't know how not to do that, I don't know how to get carried away."
Once he says yes to a project, he doesn’t second-guess the decisions that follow.
“I can’t be controlling everything. I also want my films to be extremely different from one another, but if I start taking calls about every single thing, they will all start looking the same. I choose the script, and I do give my opinion during post-production. But after that, I let things happen... and leave it to the universe.”
Watch our full interview with the actor on The Hollywood Reporter India's YouTube channel