Ram Pothineni is quite open in admitting that the project of “iSmart Shankar” happened by chance, not by choice.
“This, in fact, is media made project. Even before Puri garu and I met, websites had confirmed that we’re going to work together. Media locked the project, then only we met and have agreed upon this project,” Ram said.
Ram also said he was actually waiting for directors to come up with a character like ‘iSmart Shankar’.
“I wanted to give a break to good boy image. I was waiting to play characters with negative shades. Puri garu has written this interesting character which is totally different from what I have played so far. I may not be hero in this film,” he said further.
Ram has two leading ladies in the film - Nidhii Agerwal and Nabha Natesh. While Nabha Natesh is playing typical Telangana girl, Nidhii is scientist in the film.
How did they grab this opportunity?
“I shot a video of myself with the look of Hyderabadi girl. Puri has liked my body language and accent. We actresses often don’t get to play such interesting roles. I am happy that I got this opportunity.” Nabha revealed.
Nidhi said she played a serious role with high emotional content. Scientist’s role is very challenging one, she added.
Interestingly, Ram revealed that his look was not designed by Puri Jagannadh.
“Basically I wanted to try something whacky. I got this hairstyle at a salon in Hyderabad and left for a holiday resort. At airport, somebody snapped my pics and uploaded on social media. Puri liked it and asked me to retain. So, the hairstyle was not done for this film. But the biggest transformation that Puri has done is my acting style. The characterization of iSmart Shankar is totally different. So is my performance,” Ram praised Puri.
Explaining Puri Jagannadh’s working style, Ram joked that Puri’s more focus is making actors feel comfortable on the sets.
“He doesn’t want actors get stressed. He wants them comfortable. He tries to avoid putting actors in strenuous situations where as my guru YVS Chowdhary want what they want,” he explained.