‘Amazing to watch Fahadh act’: Allu Arjun talks about his Pushpa co-star

Pushpa: The Rise has been making waves for a lot of reasons. And one of them is the intense role of the antagonist Shekhawat essayed flawlessly by Malayalam actor Fahadh Faasil. Pushpa’s lead star Allu Arjun said that he was really wishing that Fahadh would come on board.

“I was wishing that he did this character because it needs a very powerful antagonist. Someone who has got a star presence. The moment he agreed and came on board, it was wonderful. To see him perform in live was very nice. Because I have seen his work on screen but still there’s a loss of generation. When you see the actor perform live, it’s a different experience altogether,” Allu Arjun said.

Director Sukumar prefers casting Telugu-speaking actors in the main roles of his movies. When it came to casting for Pushpa too, he largely stuck to his practice. The reason although is based on practicality for Sukumar.

“What happens with me is I keep changing dialogues on set. Scene will remain but I often improvise on dialogue. That’s why I prefer actors who know Telugu. Dhananjay is from Kannada, he knows Telugu well. He speaks Telugu. Rashmika speaks Telugu. Even if you give her the dialogue on the spot, it becomes easy.” Sukumar said.

But Sukumar made an exception in case of Fahadh. Although he doesn’t speak Telugu, the director was eager to cast him in Pushpa: The Rise. “I’m a big fan of Fahadh from the beginning. I liked his performance in Maheshinte Prateekaram. Allu Arjun too is capable of delivering his performance.” —IANS