Sivaji is eleven years old in the film industry and has worked in over fifty films. The actor’s film Diary released last week, it has the stamina to run the marathon but sadly the film is having negligible publicity. He opines people are making movies but the passion and conviction with which they embark on the project doesn’t sustain till the release of the film, they play safe when it comes to promoting a movie. The actor agrees that he had done inane dramas but feels helpless at times like this when a good film suffers from want of promotion. “I still can’t understand how 13 B could generate crores and Diary is not being talked about,” he remarks disappointedly.
In the film, Sivaji and Shradda Das read a diary and as they turn the pages, an incident that happens in the diary threatens to repeat itself, things take a turn for the worse. In the finale writer Yandamoori Veerendranath gives a logical explanation to the event that unfolds. Kota Srinivasa Rao was initially considered for that role but the writer playing the crucial last minute could have diluted the important point opines the actor, he adds “the audience might have listened, agreed to the explanation out of simple curiosity from a person other than Veerendranath who is a master in the subject.”
Another film that Sivaji wants to forget is Mantra. The film fetched an award for Charmme. Many people failed to understand how an ungainly looking and obese Charmme who had just not more than 17 scenes and one “Maha” number could bag the honours when it was Sivaji who played the vital role and entertained the crowds throughout. He says, ‘I’m cursing myself for accepting the film, I still sometimes wonder if I am the hero in it. I agree Charmme is a very good actress but I honestly feel I deserved better in Mantra. Talk of Mantra, people say it’s a Charmme’s film, talk of Missamma, they say it’s Bhumika and a Sivaji film. Luck plays an important role here, and simply to put it manaki adhi kalasi raledhu.”
A handful good films, success ratio is less but good visibility all these years. How does Sivaji explain that? The artiste opines that he is still here in the industry because people aren’t tired of him. He is still being offered three films a day, tries his best to elevate the script but when it comes to success factor, he expresses his helplessness, “I have no control over the box office but I can say for sure that there have been very very few people who have lost money on account of me.” He adds that media has changed the mind set of the audiences, it has made them more aware about the films that are releasing and prods them to give it a thought before going to see a film. I can’t bet on a formula film anymore. I’m telling producers politely who are coming to me with offers not to invest money on routine subjects anymore.”
Success and settlement means different things to different people, for this actor it is about having a tension free life. He takes what is given to him by the producers and leads an uncomplicated life. “You won’t believe it, I still live in a rented home. Many people’s career gets wound up by the time they really understand the meaning of ‘settling down.” There are dull moments but Sivaji relies on himself to pull up his morale. He quips, “My next film is the remake of Tajmahal,a kannada story that worked for 200 days, I’m optimistic that this will work for me.” True. Many of the greatest achievements of this world were accomplished by tired and discouraged men who kept on working.