"Whenever I hear this Idlebrain name it sounds very catchy & funny. Bhale peru pettarandi!"………….This is the compliment given by none other than………..Ever charming Hero NAGARJUNA.

While receiving the Idlebrain team (myself + Jeevi) on 15th Fabruary 2002, he made the above comment. Medchal……… It's a 30km ride from the Hyderabad city, where Nag is busy with hectic schedule of SANTHOSHAM shooting in Satyam Enclave.

Atmosphere is cool and things are moving fast pace at the spot. We received a warm welcome from the SANTHOSHAM team. Nag is preparing for the shot. He walked to us after the shot is completed as if he knows us for a long time. Till that time we are reeling under a tension as it is our first meet with Nagarjuna. At the very first moment he made us feel comfortable. He asked about the Idlebrain site and poured the compliments on hearing about the number of visitors that the site is receiving on an average. "It's Great!" that was the compliment he made about the Idlebrain. Jeevi deserved for that.

Then Nag went through my open letter (printed version), which was hosted in Idlebrain. Now discussion is on my open letter. Below given lines in my open letter caught his attention "I feel you are carrying away with the saying "Success is the Friend and Failure is the Foe". He stopped there and gazed at me asking: " How can you justify this?"………..I won't accept this. As human being I am very successful. I never treated the Failure as Foe. If I would have done like that he would have left the field with these failures long back. I receive both Success and Failures with same arms. This is the third time I am going though the lean patch (all time low) of my career graph. It happened twice in the past and this is the third time. And every time I was back with a Stupendous Success. This time too I will be back with much bigger Success ever seen in my career"

Mean while Director Dasarath called Nag for the shot. He left into action. Within 15 minutes shot was made O.K. and he was back again with us and continued the discussion. Then He started analyzing last 15 years of his career.

He explained about the enormous efforts, homework they put in movie making. For Outsiders it may appear like a Bed of Roses but for Insiders it is a Bed of Thorns. Then any one may question that if it is that much difficult to live then it is better to leave. Exactly for which his answer is Passion. For him fame & money are not important, it is the passion and satisfaction that drives him to this profession. Even though he is passionate towards a profession, today he is feeling monotony doing same thing since 15 years. As per him, one must posses the quality of Endurance to overcome this factor, like ANR, Amitabh, Rajanikanth and Chiranjeevi, which he may, lacks. As a Hero, the amount of efforts he put in Pre-Production, co-coordinating various departments on the sets, Post-Production activities are enormous. Even though things go out of his control for the reasons, which he can't control unless it is his Home production. He feels bad about the unnecessary hype created by media, because of which Expectations of audience are rising to peaks without any idea about the ground reality.

Once Director called Nag for the shot, he made the shot OK within 15 minutes and was back again with us. This time he told about his projects.

• Agni Varsh (Hindi), which is releasing all over the world in the month of March and it is going to be screened at Canes Film festival. His role is of 30 minutes duration. He is acting with other stalwarts like Amitabh, Jackie and Raveena.
• L.O.C (Hindi) is going great guns and inspiring him to think about periodical films
• Annapurna Studio's Manmadhudu script work is almost finalized.
• Santhoosham is going to be completed by the mid of April and is due for release on 9th May 2002.

Later we had a photo session. After meeting Nagarjuna in person, my impression is that Nag is a Real Hero On-the-Screen and Off-the-Screen. Nag is a Hero with down to earth attitude, having no ego and hypocrisy. Word is sharper than a Sword proved correct with my open letter to Idlebrain. Friends, be constructive in criticizing, suggesting your Heroes. Sure you too can win the chance of meeting your Favorite Star through Idlebrain. I am very much thankful to Mr.Chalasani Ramesh and Jeevi who made it possible. On the web and off the web Jeevi is a Real Friend for Idlebrain lovers.

--RAJU

[email protected]
(we would like to thank Ramesh Chalasani garu for the help provided)

Quick Links

-> Raju's Open letter to Nagarjuna