Valmiki shouldn't be seen as a remake, says Varun Tej

Hyderabad: Ahead of Varun Tej's period drama ‘Valmiki’, the actor interacted with media and shared his experience on the sets. Excerpts from the interview.

After the movies ‘Fidaa and Tholiprema,’ I wanted to take a break from love-oriented scripts and try something new. Love stories deal with different kind of emotions. As an actor, I wanted to try different roles. I have been hearing enough love scripts and don't want to get stereotyped doing the same roles.

The retro look—vintage dressing was fun. Costumes of that time are best known for their comfort. Compared to my previous movies, no special care was taken when it comes to style and appearance. I had to just do a little touch up to the hairdo before starting to shoot a scene.

Director Harish Shankar initially came with a love story. Later, we decided to remake the Tamil movie Jigarthanda by taking the theme of the story. The portrayal of dreaded gangster Gaddalakonda Ganesh and his henchmen is the same as that of the gangster Sethu in Tamil movie. An additional backstory has been added as to why Ganesh had to turn a goon over a period of time.

I have been extremely lucky to have been able to work with remarkable projects. It has been a learning curve throughout. ‘Valmiki’ should be seen as an entirely different film. Coming to remaking the icon song of yesteryear star Sridevi and Shoban Babu - Yelluochi Godaramma Yellakilla Paddadhammo.., Varun says he dud not felt any pressure while doing the song.