Vijay Devarakonda’s acting career has been full of ups and downs. From acting in blockbuster films like ‘Arjun Reddy’ to Ligar and now Khushi, Vijay has come a long way. Even though the Telugu film industry is often tagged with nepotism, Vijay Devarakonda has managed to slot in between Mahesh Babu and Allu Arjun for stardom. He spoke about his struggles and tough beginnings during the promotions of his film Liger.
He said, “It’s not easy. If someone really wants to do it… that was probably the hardest thing in my life. Finding a platform where your voice can be heard and you can be seen as an actor.” It was really tough. He said that he was actively working in theater before making his on-screen debut with the 2012 film ‘Life is Beautiful’. He acted in six consecutive plays. Hope the filmmakers will pay attention. No one paid attention to them either.
Vijay said, “When I finished theatre, I thought I would announce that I wanted to be a hero and all the producers would line up. I thought I would debut and become an actor but when I wanted to come to talk Nobody was. Nobody was paying attention.”
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Vijay said, “I used to apply for audition calls. Used to waiting for castings… like every struggling actor does. I used to sleep every night thinking that I would get a phone call. Someone saw me in one of my plays and offered me a small role. Director Shekhar Kamula called me for casting. It was a supporting role. After that, no work was done for a year.
To fulfill his big dreams, Vijay along with some friends brought the light hearted romantic comedy Pelli Chopulu to the big screen and that too made Rs. With a budget of 60 lakhs. Talking about it, Vijay said, “We made it for Rs 60 lakh. None of us took any money. We raised some money from two investors. It was a lot of struggle to release it. Many production houses showed the film but no one took it. Money didn’t stop. Our film. There was one person who saw it and liked it. They decided to help us release it. It had a very small opening but it grossed Rs 25-30 crore and won the National Award too. The film launched me. It was my film. First film as a solo lead. Suddenly everyone recognized me. Then came Arjun Reddy and since then I have had no shortage of work.