Adivi Sesh says outsiders can’t audition for lead roles in Telugu films

Actor Adivi Sesh, who was recently seen in Telugu serial killer thriller HIT 2 and in Major earlier this year, opened up on why he started co-writing his own films in a recent interaction. He said that there’s no auditioning culture in the Telugu film industry and all the prominent roles in a film are taken by actors from film families. 

Adivi recently spoke about how for actors in Telugu industry, who are not from a film family, auditioning was limited to the role of ‘hero’s fourth friend or other similar roles’. He added that someone like him was ‘choice number 53’ for a good script.

In an interaction with Bollywood Hungama, Adivi revealed why he started writing his own films. “Four out of my last six films were co-written by me, in collaboration with the director. When you come from outside, people don’t offer you. You’re not being considered. I was tired of it. Upar se wahan par ek-ek family mein dus-dus hero hote hain. (There, each film family has ten heroes). So, for a good script to come by you, you are like choice number 53. And there are only 20 good scripts so it became only easier to start writing,” he said.

He added that there’s no auditioning culture in Telugu industry, at least not for lead roles. “Usually, it’s booked… You’re mostly auditioning for the hero’s fourth friend or other similar roles. I wanted to have some control over this process. You end up writing your own thing in part because I wanted to control this process. Not that I know any better but I know at least if I fall, I’ll know why I am falling,” he said.

Sesh’s last release HIT 2 turned out to be a box-office hit. It follows police officer Krishna Dev aka KD (Adivi Sesh) of the Andhra Police’s Homicide Intervention Team (HIT) and how he deals with a new case – involving a serial killer who targets women – that gives him sleepless nights.

Recently, speaking at the pre-release event of HIT 2, its director Sailesh Kolanu addressed why violent crimes shown in movies can’t influence real-life crimes. “There are two things. When you’re presenting such crimes, it’s very important to not glamorize violence. We took that care very responsibly. We didn’t stylise the crime we’re depicting in the film. This is a story based on the conflict about good winning over evil,” Sailesh said.

Talking about the need for showing such violent crimes on screen, he said that cinema is a reflection of the events that take place in a society.