Some actors find cinema; Teja Sajja grew up inside it, shaped by film sets the way other kids are shaped by playgrounds, carrying in his voice the calm clarity of someone who’s been doing this for longer than he’s been forming memories. As a kid, he’s already given blockbusters — Choodalani Vundi, Indra, amongst almost 20 others. Ask him what’s coming next and he answers almost instantly, sharing a flicker of excitement, “There’s Mirai 2, and the sequel to Zombie Reddy.” He approaches every project with the same discipline, instinct and curiosity that have defined his life from the very beginning — one that he still describes with a kind of amusement.
At the grand opening of TechnoSport’s largest store in Hyderabad, Teja looks back on how it all began. “I think it was destiny, it wasn’t my choice,” he says, remembering how a director selected him when he was just two years old. “By the time I doubled up my senses, I was already into acting and it was a daily job for me,” he explains. With a soft smile, he adds that while he didn’t choose acting in the beginning, it became the space he grew up in and learned to call home.
The lessons he carries today came from the people he observed up close during those early sets. “I’ve had a great opportunity to work with all our superstars and megastars,” he shares. The one common thread he holds on to is their work ethic. “The sincerity that they put in into their films has given me a lot of inspiration,” Teja shares.
Acting, he further says is an opportunity that only one in a million gets. Even after all these years, he insists the wonder hasn’t faded a slight bit. “Of course, it’s always surprising. Films are art,” Teja says, describing how every day still feels fresh.
When it comes to choosing scripts, the actor gravitates towards unfamiliarity, “something that has not been attempted,” Teja shares, especially if it speaks across age groups and aligns with his instinct for a clean film.
Off camera though, Teja’s life is far simpler. “I’ll just come home, take a bath, watch some films and sleep,” he laughs, suggesting that even while he’s not working, films remain a huge part of his daily routine.
If he weren’t an actor, Teja believes he would be a cop, because, as he puts it, “They are real heroes and if not one in reel, I’d love to be a hero in real life,” a belief rooted in his childhood admiration. And among his many interests, he has recently returned to horse-riding — “I did it in my childhood, I’m doing it once again now.”
Fitness, for him, is woven naturally into his daily routine. Teja doesn’t follow a rigorous workout routine but stays active between shoots, moving in ways he enjoys and finding grounding in sports like riding. It’s a balance that keeps him steady as he heads into the next phase in his career, carrying forward the same quiet discipline and an urge to keep learning.
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