Friday, January 20, 2012
He is a household name in Tollywood and well into his 42nd film. Having re-entered Kollywood after a hiatus, with the highly successful Poraali, ‘Allari’ Naresh has a passion to play villain and his talent to make your sides split with laughter.
Tall, dusky and handsome, the hero who tickles your funny bone on screen actually describes himself as ‘reserved and serious’ in real life. “I loosen up only once I am comfortable with people,” says ‘Allari’ Naresh. Now, that’s hard to believe about a man who has been charming his audiences right from the start of his career. “I am not just about making people laugh; I have done several serious films in my career. But comedy is my forte. After all, everybody loves a laugh!’ he chuckles. It is no surprise then that his name has the tag ‘allari’, which means ‘naughty’ in Telugu. Talking about his prefix, he guffaws and says, “That actually happened after I acted in the film Allari which was Kurumbu in Tamil. Since there is another actor called Naresh, people started calling me ‘Allari’ Naresh to differentiate between us.” Comic or serious, films have been his childhood dream. “However, dad insisted that I finish my studies before I started assisting him as an AD and production executive,” Naresh recalls. Aside of his love for films, his main inspiration has been actor Raghuvaran. “I wanted to be a real baddie on screen. I was inspired by Raghuvaran who could look villainous by just his expressions and voice, and without the characteristic mole, wig, scar, bald head or muscled look! In fact, I never wanted to be a hero and only wanted to be a villain like him. I have always said that being a villain is not about the body. It is about brains on screen,” he explains. But as luck would have it, Naresh turned hero instead, and a very successful one at that! And with Pelli Kaani Prasad, his wish of acting alongside Raghuvaran was fulfilled.
