Anand Deverakonda interview: ‘Cinema does affect the psyche but censorship isn’t the solution’

 Anand Deverakonda gets candid about his upcoming film Gam Gam Ganesha, the influence of cinema and more.

Anand Deverakonda is currently feeling ‘confident and excited but nervous’. The actor is currently promoting his upcoming film, Gam Gam Ganesha, directed by debutant Uday Shetty. Anand spent 2024 filming his next film Duet,

vacationing in Vietnam with his brother Vijay Deverakonda and a few friends, and dreaming big. (Related: Vijay Deverakonda: Anand and I would prank girlfriends because we have the same voice).

“It’s been a wild ride since Baby (2023) debuted and became a huge hit. “Now that I’m recognized as a performer, and people have expectations of me, I feel like I need to be careful with my choices,” says the actor.

‘I wanted to break away from boy-next-door roles.’
Anand’s career, beginning with Dorasaani (2019), has seen him excel at playing variations of the soft-spoken boy-next-door. But his role as a thief in Gam Gam Ganesha is a deliberate departure from that.

“I’ve never attempted this type of character before. He’s loud, speaks, walks, and appears differently than previous roles I’ve played. “He’s very over-the-top, and I wanted to explore that as an actor,” he says.

Anand continues, “I’ve done comedy before in Middle Class Melodies (2020) and Pushpaka Vimanam (2021), but this was different. With the movie, I’m also exploring a new genre: crime comedy. Similar to Nelson Dilipkumar,

Uday has an absurd sense of humor (Kolamaavu Kokila). Movies like Run Raja Run (2014), Agent Sai Srinivasa Athreya (2019), Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (2005), The Nice Guys (2016), and Swamy Ra Ra (2013) are some of my favorites. I had the opportunity to investigate the genre now.

‘Vijay helped me get buff for the role’

In fact, the role is so different from the rest, that Anand even bulked up for it and ‘put on some lean muscle’ as he puts it. He took his brother’s help to get it right. “I am someone who plays sports, not works out at the gym. But I’ve been working out consistently for two years now, eating clean and focusing on strength training, agility and mobility, focusing on my abs and muscle,” shares Anand.

He was so nervous about doing it right, that he knew he had to rope in his brother for help. “Vijay has been doing this for so long, so I would bother him and ask him questions. I was so nervous initially but he would laugh and ask me to just do what feels right. He helped me a lot in getting buff, from the diet to the kind of workouts I should do, I took his help for everything in the last year or two,” he adds.

“We must exercise responsibility while avoiding censorship.”
And Anand has been following in his brother’s footsteps with more than just workouts these days. With movies like Arjun Reddy (2017) and his most recent release,

The Family Star (2024), Vijay is no stranger to creating films that spark debate. Despite being a huge hit, Anand’s Baby caused controversy because it portrayed his co-star Vaishnavi Chaitanya as a girl who is easily seduced by better things in life.

“I remember thinking of Baby and feeling proud because we accomplished something worthwhile. However, the amount of talk surrounding the movie after its release—which also happened to Arjun Reddy—was overwhelming, he claims.

When you ask Anand if he thinks movies should be seen as “just entertainment,” as some of his coworkers do, he responds, “No, I think movies have a way of shaping culture and everyday behavior.” I won’t take that back.

After giving it some thought, he continues, “But cinema takes from life and cinema pushes life forward.” I thought Joker (2019) was fantastic, but it’s crazy to make a movie like that in the US, where gun violence is so common.

Does that indicate carelessness on the part of Todd Phillips, the director? Since I am an actor and am aware that censorship can have a domino effect, I believe the situation to be far more nuanced than that.

It’s gloomy to believe that theaters are disappearing.
Anand thinks about these things a lot. Similar to how everyone thinks that a lack of new movie releases isn’t the only reason Telangana and some areas of Andhra Pradesh close their single screens for the summer.

“I understand their pain because AVD Cinemas is a theater we also own. Being an actor myself, I find it very concerning when I see screens go black, even for a little while. However, he believes it is gloomy to believe theaters are disappearing.

Anand believes that the current situation stems primarily from a lack of coordination. Every year, we have interspersed strong, mid-tier, and indie films with the major releases during the summer. However, it appears that we overlooked it this year. Since, let’s be precise. He continues,

“We just need more of that. Movies like Virupaksha, Baby, Samajavaragamana, and HanuMan have shown that people will attend theaters for excellent cinema. The big releases this year, including Kalki 2898 AD, Pushpa: The Rule, and Devara: Part 1, will get people back in the theaters.”

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