Nagarjuna defines Vizag as a ‘beautiful’ city

Visakhapatnam: Even as a large chunk of Lokesh Kanagaraj’s ensuing movie Coolie continues to be filmed in Visakhapatnam, actor Nagarjuna Akkineni opines that the city is endowed with picturesque setting and is quite suitable to be developed as a film hub.

In a free-wheeling chat with The Hans India, the ‘King’ of Tollywood defined Visakhapatnam as a beautiful city. “What is there not to like about Visakhapatnam? Even when you look at the city from an aircraft, the ocean-speckled view that unfolds before you looks so beautiful. In addition to beach stretches, the other locales such as Borra Caves and Araku Valley are favourable for film shoots,” the actor, who came to the city, elaborates.

It is quite apparent that Nagarjuna is extremely excited about essaying the role of ‘Simon’ in the much-awaited Rajinikanth-starrer Coolie. The actor says that he has been looking forward to working with Lokesh Kanagaraj ever since the release of the director’s Tamil action-thriller ‘Kaithi’ (Khaidi in Telugu).

Being part of the young director’s team, Nagarjuna notices that Lokesh knows exactly what he wants and believes in the output too. “And I see the reason for his success. Apparently, I wanted to work with him for a long time and I am glad it did work out this way,” beams the actor.

Sharing his experience of working with Lokesh Kanagaraj, Nagarjuna says, “It’s a pleasure to team up with Lokesh as the ‘Gen-Z’ director motivates actors to give their best shots rather than driving his viewpoint across. The best part is that your freedom and space would be intact while emoting before the lens.”

When asked about how it feels like sharing screen space with Superstar Rajinikanth, Nagarjuna responds, “Rajinikanth is the most humble gentleman who is easy to work with. He not only gives space to other actors working along with him but also encourages them.”

Although Nagarjuna says that he’s a bit conscious of conversing in Tamil while working for ‘Coolie’, he recalls how ‘Thalaivar’ helps him in taking pauses while delivering dialogues.

Apart from Coolie, Nagarjuna says he is looking forward to his action movie Kubera. Even as most part of the shooting for Kubera has been wrapped up, Nagarjuna says it is expected to hit theatres in a few months from now.

Reiterating how the actor has been frequenting Visakhapatnam for the shooting purpose right from his maiden movie, Nagarjuna says that Visakhapatnam is certainly a favourable destination for film-makers belonging to not just the Telugu states but also the other states, including Tamil Nadu.