Apr 29, 2026 3:49pm IST
Naga Chaitanya: ‘I want to Convince the Audience that I Can Suit Any Kind of Role’ (EXCLUSIVE)
From playing the quintessential lover boy in romantic films to getting into the sinister world of horror-thrillers, there is nothing that Telugu actor Naga Chaitanya will not do or say no to when it comes to essaying roles that challenge him as an actor. At the moment, Chaitanya is loving the OTT space and the fandom it has brought him, but he is also paying equal attention to his theatrical outings. His foray into Bollywood with "Lal Singh Chaddha" may not have been an ideal one, but that does not deter the actor one bit. He’s hoping to listen to more Hindi scripts.
The elder son of superstar Nagarjuna Akkineni, Chaitanya, is excited about his next, “Vrushakarma,” a mythological horror-thriller directed by Karthik Varma Dandu (of “Virupaksha” fame). Speaking exclusively to Variety India, Naga Chaitanya opens up about what shapes his choice of roles, why OTT excites him, the importance of maintaining equanimity in the face of failures and successes, and why, despite the rapport he shares with dad Nagarjuna, boundaries still need to be drawn. Excerpts..
We begin by asking Chaitanya to tell us about his role in “Vrushakarma,” and the actor says, “I play Arjun, a treasure hunter.” He carries on, “I have seen multiple Hollywood references, but maybe a handful in Indian films. The director Karthik Varma Dandu’s previous film, 'Virupaksha,' also had mythological layering, and he excels in this horror-thriller genre. There is a lot of VFX involved in ‘Vrushakarma’ as we want to create a large-scale theatrical experience for the audience. The film is 90 per cent complete, but there is still 10 per cent left. That is why we don’t have an exact release date yet, but are eyeing the August to October window.”
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The actor who was last seen in the romantic Telugu superhit, “Thandel” in 2025, will begin shooting for season 2 of his OTT horror-thriller series, “Dhootha” in May. The series had become so popular that Chaitanya found himself surrounded by fans praising the show on his travels abroad. “The kind of exposure OTT gives you is phenomenal. The shows or films are released in 100 countries and dubbed in multiple languages. When people reach out to you, when you are traveling, and praise your performance, it really gives you a high,” he reveals.
In “Dhootha” Season 1, Chaitanya played investigative journalist Sagar. “Season 2 will be a continuation of the first series with all the primary characters involved. But unlike the last time, where the focus was on the world of journalism, this time, we are delving into the medical profession,” he says.
In recent times, Chaitanya has become more experimental with his on-screen characters. The shift began in 2018 when he stepped into his grandfather’s shoes by playing Akkineni Nageshwar Rao in “Mahanti.” He also played Vikramaditya in the action flick “Savyasachi” that same year. In 2019, he played Poorna, an aspiring cricketer with a doomed career, in “Majili.” And in 2022, Balraju Bodi, a soldier in the Indian army in “Lal Singh Chadda.” Last year, he even played Raju, a fisherman in “Thandel.”
He perceives this change as “an organic shift.” Elaborating further, Chaitanya says, “The audience has always encouraged me in the love story zone, since the beginning of my career with 'Josh' in 2009. I want to convince the audience that I can suit any kind of role that a director or writer writes. I can be convincing in it. So, for me, that is motivation. I keep trying to look for new things from time to time, and I would also say that right now, at least the trend in theaters is gravitating toward larger-than-life cinema. The audiences are coming to the theaters for those kinds of films. So, maybe that has influenced me a little bit. But apart from that, I think love stories are always close to my heart.”
While Chaitanya has largely confined himself to South cinema, he made his Bollywood debut with “Laal Singh Chadda” in 2022.
While the Aamir Khan film underperformed at the box office, Chaitanya has fond memories of working with the star. “It is like going back to acting school all over again. He is such a perfectionist. Those four to six months that I spent with him and the team were a great learning curve. I had heard about how obsessive he is about every detail, but seeing it up close was a revelation. That practical experience of working with him has taught me so much, and I have been able to apply it to so many things I am doing after that,” he confesses.
Unfazed by the debacle of his Bollywood debut, Chaitanya is definitely open to more Bollywood offers. “I guess I have to put myself out there and listen to more Hindi scripts,” he says.
Failures don’t impact the actor who has grown up in a legendary film family, where he has witnessed his grandfather Nageshwara Rao, father Nagarjuna, and Uncle Venkatesh take losses in their stride. “If you can look at success and failure with a balance and understand as to why it happened and keep moving forward without lingering on that success or failure, I think that's the way to keep growing. I have grown up surrounded by actors and producers, who have perceived success and failure as a normal path of growth. I've seen the way they've dealt with both. They’ve always taught me not to take anything too seriously and just be realistic and grounded,” he reveals.
Besides acting, Chaitanya is also playing an active role at Annapoorna Studios. “I stepped in about seven-eight years back; Dad wanted a state-of-the-art sound mix facility at the studio. So, I stepped in to build this studio and get this Dolby premiere certification and all that. I'm actively involved in constantly enhancing Annapurna's post-production, trying to find the right collaborations for it and constantly improving the technology.”
Speaking about his father, the dad-son duo has done three films together: "Manam’ in 2014, “Premam” in 2016, and “Bangarraju” in 2022. When are we likely to see them together again? “We are currently planning the sequel to “Bangarraju.”
So, you can look forward to seeing us on the big screen soon,” he says.
Ask him about working with his dad, and he responds, “You know it's a thin line. You have to flip from being in the father-son relationship to the actor on screen. We have a lot of fun together, but he is also the producer. So, there's a lot of creative banter, but at some point, you sort of figure out, saying, 'Okay, this is where I draw the line.' You let him take the final call.”
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