Sudheer Babu is coming to theatres for the second time this year, playing not one or two but three different characters in Maama Mascheendra, his next film. A huge part of his faith in the project comes from his director Harsha Vardhan. An actor who became a household name after playing Amrutha Rao in the beloved early 2000s sitcom Amrutham, he has also raked up impressive screenwriting credits by working in successful, heartfelt films like Manam (2014) and Gunde Jaari Gallanthayyinde (2013). Speaking about Harsha Vardhan, Sudheer says, “I have known him for a while and I love what he brings to the table as a writer. He is a huge Ilaiyaraaja fan and originally came to the industry to work as a music director, so his sense of music is also strong. His acting background also strengthens his directorial instincts, which worked strongly in Maama Mascheendra’s favour.”
Speaking about his own reasons behind choosing Maama Mascheendra, Sudheer continues, “This is also a film that offers you versatility and scope, along with an element of freshness. The latter is something I always look for while picking a script. To describe this film in short, Maama Mascheendra oka content unna commercial cinema (It is an entertainer with a strong story). It has something for everyone. You can say it is a multicuisine film.”
Maama Mascheendra comes in the heels of the failure of Hunt, which was released earlier this year. What set Hunt — the Telugu remake of the 2013 Malayalam film Mumbai Police — apart from other unsuccessful films is the audience’s displeasure towards Sudheer Babu coming out as a homosexual towards the end, which resulted in unsavory trolling. The actor also became emotional at Maama Mascheendra’s trailer launch while recounting this experience. “I was kind of hoping that this film would be accepted by the critics, if not the audience.
This is a neat film, the film that critics would like and support. I would have also been okay had the criticism been on the lines of what worked and what did not work in the film. But to make a personal attack, to say Krishna Garu (Yesteryear actor and Sudheer Babu’s father-in-law) would have died by suicide had he been alive to watch the film is not only a horrible thing to say but also totally uncalled for.” says Sudheer, commenting on the film’s reception. He continues, “Maybe we did not market the film properly. In retrospect, we should have prepared the audience ahead on how niche the film was going to be. Hunt was a kind of film where out of four people, three disliked it while one liked it. Post the film, the situation became such that three people vehemently hated the film, while one person was too afraid to admit he liked it.” On a sour note, the actor adds, “This film taught me a lot. I don’t think I will experiment anymore, at least I will not pick experimental stuff for the heck of it.”
Unlike most films where actors playing double roles are seen as father and son, Sudheer will be seen playing the roles of twins and their maternal uncle. The three roles posed challenges on multiple levels to the actor. Speaking about the various accents he had to pick up for the film, Sudheer says, “I had to speak in Telangana, Rayalaseema and Uttarandhra dialects for these three roles I played. None of these accents come naturally to me. There is one more small character I played actually who spoke the way I do in real life, but we ironically got that role dubbed.”
The actor plays the role of a gangster named Parsuram, an obese man named Durga and a guy named after his profession, DJ. Playing Durga involved Sudheer putting on 10-15 kilos of weight and wearing prosthetics. Speaking about playing Durga, he says, “We picked the prosthetics carefully, ensuring that I can also move my face and emote in comfort. The prosthetics have also made me unrecognizable, and I had some fun fooling my own building’s guard in Durga’s look. Watch out for this character, though. He is going to be so fresh and likeable. Durga is unlike so many overweight men in cinema, who are depicted as sad, self-pitying people. He is charming and comfortable in his own skin.”
Talking about his other characters, Sudheer continues, “Parsuram will be connected to the audience throughout the film. I initially thought DJ would be easy to play since he looks like me in real life and there are no heavy costumes or anything, but that very aspect made it all the more harder. I had to think harder to make this character stand out and not be generic or not remind audiences of the roles I have played before.”
Sudheer will be seen next in Maa Nanna Superhero, a father-son tale set in the backdrop of a road trip and Harom Hara, a period actioner. The actor, a former national-level badminton player, is also scheduled to appear in a biopic on Pullela Gopichand. While the biopic is yet to go on floors, the actor drops updates on his lineup, saying, “We are just left with dubbing Maa Nanna Superhero. The film is practically ready to release next month, but we need to space out my releases for obvious reasons. We will also need some time to promote the film properly. Harom Hara, on the other hand, is one of my biggest films to date. There is just so much scale and scope and thousands of extras everywhere. It will be on par with any major film out there.”