In a recent interview, actor Adivi Sesh opened up about the lack of auditions in Telugu cinema for outsiders. Adivi Sesh was most recently seen in the Telugu serial killer thriller HIT 2 and in Major earlier this year. He discussed why he began co-writing his own movies. He claimed that actors from film families always play the leading roles.
Adivi recently discussed how Telugu film industry actors who are not from a film family did not have much options. They were only allowed to audition for the role of "hero's fourth friend or other similar roles." A person like him was "option number 53" for a decent script, he said.
Adivi revealed why he started writing his own films. “Four out of my last six films were co-written by me, in collaboration with the director. When you come from outside, people don’t offer you. You’re not being considered. I was tired of it. Upar se wahan par ek-ek family mein dus-dus hero hote hain. (There, each film family has ten heroes). So, for a good script to come by you, you are like choice number 53. And there are only 20 good scripts so it became only easier to start writing,” he said.
He added that there’s no auditioning culture in the Telugu industry, at least not for lead roles. “Usually, it’s booked… You’re mostly auditioning for the hero’s fourth friend or other similar roles. I wanted to have some control over this process. You end up writing your own thing in part because I wanted to control this process. Not that I know any better but I know at least if I fall, I’ll know why I am falling,” he said.
HIT 2, Sesh's most recent film, performed well at the box office. It follows Andhra Police's Homicide Intervention Team (HIT) member Krishna Dev or KD (Adivi Sesh). As the film moves forward KD handles a fresh case involving a serial killer who attacks women.
