00:00Good evening, this is Mandusha Radhakrishnan, I'm the entertainment editor of Gulf News.
00:08It gives me immense pleasure to introduce Alu Arjun and I have to say it's a proud moment
00:14for the actor because his wax figure was unveiled this evening at the Madame Tussauds.
00:21It's a proud moment for you, it's a reflected pride moment for us as well, uncanny resemblance
00:26between you.
00:28Has life come full circle?
00:29Is this what every actor at some point wants?
00:32Absolutely, for every actor it's a milestone moment because there are very few milestones
00:36in your life for every actor on a global scale as well.
00:39So being etched as a wax statue in Madame Tussauds is definitely a gold class milestone
00:47moment for any actor or any celebrity in the world.
00:51So it is my big moment and it's my first and it will always be the first.
00:56You brought the entire tribe with you, are they your biggest strengths?
00:59Of course, for anybody I think or most people, the family is their biggest pillar of support
01:05because that's where you spend your, they are the people who actually, how do I say,
01:10they deal the most with your core personalities, actually them.
01:13So who you are also, a lot of credit goes to them, so definitely yes.
01:18Are you the man with the Midas touch, now with the wax touch as well, so don't fly
01:23too close to the moon as they say, to the sun they say, but in your case you need to
01:27tell us, what a phenomenal year, National Award.
01:29Yeah, it's been a great year, it's been a great year and you know, my movie's done really
01:33well and the last two, three years have been really nice, really nice.
01:37Right, how do you go about choosing your scripts?
01:40It's so interesting because I see comedy, then I see a movie like Pushpa, you've become
01:44like this pan India star long before the term was coined I think.
01:48Would you say that you're as mainstream as it gets and proudly so?
01:52Is that one of your biggest strengths?
01:54Well, I can't claim that, but if you people say it, then I'll just have to stay there
01:58and just say thank you for that.
02:00But how do you choose your scripts?
02:02How do I choose my scripts?
02:03Honestly, the scripts are an important part of the film, but I always tell everybody that
02:10the intention of the project is the most important thing, so I work with people who have the
02:16best intentions and I think even sometimes an average script becomes great if you have
02:21the best intentions.
02:22Of course, and Pushpa, I guess was your, it's not a career-defining movie, but I think it
02:26introduced you to the rest of India and perhaps even Indians across the globe, right?
02:31I do think it's a career-defining movie because you know, it's a good milestone moment that
02:36you know, me as a regional South Indian actor, you know, the entire film went a pan Indian
02:41actor, there's a huge, you know, section of the audience that have seen this film in theatres,
02:45they've seen it on television and stuff, but now they're seeing it on a big screen,
02:51so I think it is a milestone moment for me that it's my first pan Indian theatrical film,
02:55so it is a milestone moment for me personally.
02:57In August, it's a big moment for you as well, and sequels are tough, the first one I feel
03:01you can somehow, but the expectations are soaring high, are you worried, are you nervous?
03:06Well, honestly, I think it's a very fortunate spot to be in, because you know, having expectations,
03:13having lots of love from lots of people, that means they really like the product and
03:17they're expecting the best to come out of you, and I think that's a great spot to be,
03:21and I really hope not to disappoint, you know, I'm very positive that it's going to be a
03:26very, how do I say, the film is coming out, I think the people will like it.
03:35Of course, you're very modest as well.
03:37Yeah, you know, I can't really honestly speak too strongly about a film, no matter how confident
03:42I feel, or no matter what gut instincts I get, because it's ultimately the people's choice,
03:47and I hope they like the film, and I'm quite excited the way it's come out.
03:52Right, you're one of the few actors who has charisma and also who marries creativity with economics.
03:57All your movies, I love it, you are proudly saying, I want it to be big, better, bolder, etc.
04:02Of course.
04:03Is that what it's all about?
04:04Of course.
04:05You know, you're not worried to say I'm a mainstream hero, am I?
04:08No, no, no, I think I'm unapologetic about it, and I think playing mainstream is one of the biggest, toughest challenges.
04:18Why do you say that? Because, you know, people take it, I went to Jordan recently to watch
04:22Hrithik Rao, not Hrithik, Tiger Shroff and Akshay Kumar dance at one degree Celsius,
04:27not an easy task, they were shirtless, and dancing at one degree, and we were all layered.
04:32Is that how tough things get?
04:34Absolutely, you know, because when you do a commercial film, you know, you'll be pushing
04:39a person to his maximum potential, it could be fights, it could be dance, it could be
04:43extreme temperatures, and also they need to have multiple skill sets.
04:49You need to be a good performer, you need to have an idea about acting, you need to
04:53have an idea about stunts and choreography, and you need to be a good dancer, you know,
04:57in case you want to do songs, so you need to be multi-talented to do, you know, this
05:02format of films, so physically it's one of the toughest formats for any actor in the world.
05:07So, on a global scandal also, it's very, very hard.
05:11Right, I did an interview with you over email in 2019, you said you want to be the best
05:15version of yourself and you work towards it entirely. I think four years later, do you
05:19think you have reached that place where you feel comfortable about who you are?
05:23You're in a good space as an actor.
05:25I think I'm in a good space, I still have lots more to go, and I really want to be the
05:30best version of myself, get the most authentic version of myself out there, and I think
05:36that is when you actually reach, when you and the world are one.
05:41I think that's the point and that's my aspiration, I want to reach there.
05:46Right, National Award, did it change you? I mean, I saw how happy you were with
05:50Kriti Sanon that day, and Pushpa, and that too a movie, generally when we think of
05:54National Awards, you think of like, very serious cinema, but you had a great song in it.
05:59You had a dance move, you're the king of dance, you owned it.
06:02So did you think that getting the National Award and now a statue at Madame Tussauds,
06:08is kind of like the crown, you're having the best phase in your life, would you think that?
06:12Yeah, I would say definitely it's a great phase in my life, that you know, all great
06:15things have been coming together, and you know, I'm having my biggest release, you
06:19know, Pushpa 2 is one of the biggest, the biggest expected film in the country.
06:23We were never at that spot ever in our lives before, to be all honest.
06:27We were there as one of the good films in the country, but it's very different when
06:31you're on the scale of the most expected to one of the top 10 or top 5.
06:36It's a very different spot to be in.
06:38Right, if you were to choose between great reviews or blockbuster success,
06:41what would you say you would, or is it a combination, what would you choose?
06:45I want everything. I want everything.
06:48When you do a great job, I think it's a universal language that everybody will feel it.
06:52Everybody will be like, you know, from the masses to the reviews to everybody.
06:56When you do a great film, I think universally everybody will accept it.
06:59Are you audacious?
07:00I would always like to be in that spot, as much as possible.
07:03Both, with a lot of…
07:05With everybody, I want everybody, you know, I want everybody to be happy.
07:07Right, like what do you do when, I know you're the most like, you're like a bright spot
07:11in the sun, but I'm sure there are days when you also want to give yourself a pep talk.
07:15What do you tell? What does Arjun tell himself?
07:18Say, you know what, things are not so bad, come on, you know, stop, stop your self-pitying mode.
07:22Do you go through those phases?
07:23Yeah, of course, I think every human goes, man.
07:25I just keep saying, come back.
07:27You know, we all go off, I just keep saying, come back, come back, come back.
07:31That's all I keep telling myself, come back, it's okay, come back.
07:34Of course, and you're also very keenly aware of your privilege.
07:37Your dad is a producer, did that really, are you aware of your privilege as well?
07:42And where you have reached so far?
07:43One hundred percent, I'm a very, in all honesty, I'm extremely privileged.
07:47I've been very, very fortunate, you know, it's not so easy, you know,
07:52and I cannot, how do I say, it's a very fortunate spot to be where I am
07:57and I absolutely understand that because when I see, you know,
08:00so many people struggling actors and newcomers, you know, people who are self-made,
08:04I have utmost respect for people like those.
08:07So, of course, I do know how fortunate I am to be in this kind of a spot.
08:12Of course, and Prithviraj has gone, undergone a crazy transformation
08:15for the movie called The Goatland.
08:17Absolutely.
08:18Would you as an actor as well think about putting yourself to extreme lengths for a role?
08:23I would, I would.
08:26Right.
08:27I mean, yeah, I would, yeah, I mean, for a role, whatever the role requires, I would do it.
08:30And why do you think that works, that part of your personality really clicks?
08:34Honestly, my uncle Chiranjeevi is a great dancer and I do have his influences on me
08:39and also, you know, we grew up watching, you know, many Prabhudeva songs
08:45and also Govinda songs and, you know, Michael Jackson.
08:48We're from that era, people, right?
08:49So, all these people's, how do I say, subconscious impressions are on me.
08:54Right.
08:55Definitely, they're there.
08:56Brilliant.
08:57What would you tell your 20-year-old self if you could?
08:59Now that you have a statue, you've done well.
09:01I think you've ticked all the boxes.
09:03But even then.
09:04Not really.
09:05Not really.
09:06What would you tell your 20-year-old self, Alok?
09:09Do exactly what you did.
09:11Fantastic.
09:12On that note, you did so well.
09:14Thank you for entertaining us.
09:16If you're in a movie, we watch it and that's the biggest goodwill I think an actor gets.
09:20Thank you so much for your time.
09:22And congratulations.
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