Allu Arjun: South Indian icon to Dubai's Madame Tussauds

Gulf News

Life may have come full circle for South Indian icon Allu Arjun as he unveiled his wax statue at Madame Tussauds Dubai earlier this week. However, the big reveal wouldn’t be complete for the ‘Pushpa’ sensation without his tribe, including his wife, children, brother, in-laws, and even his kids’ best friend, joining him in that moment. He waited patiently as they joined him before unveiling his own wax figure in that iconic red jacket that he wore in the boardroom dance scene from his blockbuster film, ‘Ala Vaikunthapurramuloo’.  Read the full story here: https://gulfnews.com/entertainment/south-indian/the-rise-of-allu-arjun-from-south-indian-icon-to-wax-figure-at-madame-tussauds-in-dubai-1.102010267  Subscribe to Gulf News on YouTube and watch more of our videos: https://www.youtube.com/user/GulfNewsTV  See more videos at https://gulfnews.com/videos Read more Gulf News stories here: https://bit.ly/2HLJ2km  #UAEnews #indian #alluarjun

Transcript

00:00Good evening, this is Mandusha Radhakrishnan, I'm the entertainment editor of Gulf News.

00:08It gives me immense pleasure to introduce Alu Arjun and I have to say it's a proud moment

00:14for the actor because his wax figure was unveiled this evening at the Madame Tussauds.

00:21It's a proud moment for you, it's a reflected pride moment for us as well, uncanny resemblance

00:26between you.

00:28Has life come full circle?

00:29Is this what every actor at some point wants?

00:32Absolutely, for every actor it's a milestone moment because there are very few milestones

00:36in your life for every actor on a global scale as well.

00:39So being etched as a wax statue in Madame Tussauds is definitely a gold class milestone

00:47moment for any actor or any celebrity in the world.

00:51So it is my big moment and it's my first and it will always be the first.

00:56You brought the entire tribe with you, are they your biggest strengths?

00:59Of course, for anybody I think or most people, the family is their biggest pillar of support

01:05because that's where you spend your, they are the people who actually, how do I say,

01:10they deal the most with your core personalities, actually them.

01:13So who you are also, a lot of credit goes to them, so definitely yes.

01:18Are you the man with the Midas touch, now with the wax touch as well, so don't fly

01:23too close to the moon as they say, to the sun they say, but in your case you need to

01:27tell us, what a phenomenal year, National Award.

01:29Yeah, it's been a great year, it's been a great year and you know, my movie's done really

01:33well and the last two, three years have been really nice, really nice.

01:37Right, how do you go about choosing your scripts?

01:40It's so interesting because I see comedy, then I see a movie like Pushpa, you've become

01:44like this pan India star long before the term was coined I think.

01:48Would you say that you're as mainstream as it gets and proudly so?

01:52Is that one of your biggest strengths?

01:54Well, I can't claim that, but if you people say it, then I'll just have to stay there

01:58and just say thank you for that.

02:00But how do you choose your scripts?

02:02How do I choose my scripts?

02:03Honestly, the scripts are an important part of the film, but I always tell everybody that

02:10the intention of the project is the most important thing, so I work with people who have the

02:16best intentions and I think even sometimes an average script becomes great if you have

02:21the best intentions.

02:22Of course, and Pushpa, I guess was your, it's not a career-defining movie, but I think it

02:26introduced you to the rest of India and perhaps even Indians across the globe, right?

02:31I do think it's a career-defining movie because you know, it's a good milestone moment that

02:36you know, me as a regional South Indian actor, you know, the entire film went a pan Indian

02:41actor, there's a huge, you know, section of the audience that have seen this film in theatres,

02:45they've seen it on television and stuff, but now they're seeing it on a big screen,

02:51so I think it is a milestone moment for me that it's my first pan Indian theatrical film,

02:55so it is a milestone moment for me personally.

02:57In August, it's a big moment for you as well, and sequels are tough, the first one I feel

03:01you can somehow, but the expectations are soaring high, are you worried, are you nervous?

03:06Well, honestly, I think it's a very fortunate spot to be in, because you know, having expectations,

03:13having lots of love from lots of people, that means they really like the product and

03:17they're expecting the best to come out of you, and I think that's a great spot to be,

03:21and I really hope not to disappoint, you know, I'm very positive that it's going to be a

03:26very, how do I say, the film is coming out, I think the people will like it.

03:35Of course, you're very modest as well.

03:37Yeah, you know, I can't really honestly speak too strongly about a film, no matter how confident

03:42I feel, or no matter what gut instincts I get, because it's ultimately the people's choice,

03:47and I hope they like the film, and I'm quite excited the way it's come out.

03:52Right, you're one of the few actors who has charisma and also who marries creativity with economics.

03:57All your movies, I love it, you are proudly saying, I want it to be big, better, bolder, etc.

04:02Of course.

04:03Is that what it's all about?

04:04Of course.

04:05You know, you're not worried to say I'm a mainstream hero, am I?

04:08No, no, no, I think I'm unapologetic about it, and I think playing mainstream is one of the biggest, toughest challenges.

04:18Why do you say that? Because, you know, people take it, I went to Jordan recently to watch

04:22Hrithik Rao, not Hrithik, Tiger Shroff and Akshay Kumar dance at one degree Celsius,

04:27not an easy task, they were shirtless, and dancing at one degree, and we were all layered.

04:32Is that how tough things get?

04:34Absolutely, you know, because when you do a commercial film, you know, you'll be pushing

04:39a person to his maximum potential, it could be fights, it could be dance, it could be

04:43extreme temperatures, and also they need to have multiple skill sets.

04:49You need to be a good performer, you need to have an idea about acting, you need to

04:53have an idea about stunts and choreography, and you need to be a good dancer, you know,

04:57in case you want to do songs, so you need to be multi-talented to do, you know, this

05:02format of films, so physically it's one of the toughest formats for any actor in the world.

05:07So, on a global scandal also, it's very, very hard.

05:11Right, I did an interview with you over email in 2019, you said you want to be the best

05:15version of yourself and you work towards it entirely. I think four years later, do you

05:19think you have reached that place where you feel comfortable about who you are?

05:23You're in a good space as an actor.

05:25I think I'm in a good space, I still have lots more to go, and I really want to be the

05:30best version of myself, get the most authentic version of myself out there, and I think

05:36that is when you actually reach, when you and the world are one.

05:41I think that's the point and that's my aspiration, I want to reach there.

05:46Right, National Award, did it change you? I mean, I saw how happy you were with

05:50Kriti Sanon that day, and Pushpa, and that too a movie, generally when we think of

05:54National Awards, you think of like, very serious cinema, but you had a great song in it.

05:59You had a dance move, you're the king of dance, you owned it.

06:02So did you think that getting the National Award and now a statue at Madame Tussauds,

06:08is kind of like the crown, you're having the best phase in your life, would you think that?

06:12Yeah, I would say definitely it's a great phase in my life, that you know, all great

06:15things have been coming together, and you know, I'm having my biggest release, you

06:19know, Pushpa 2 is one of the biggest, the biggest expected film in the country.

06:23We were never at that spot ever in our lives before, to be all honest.

06:27We were there as one of the good films in the country, but it's very different when

06:31you're on the scale of the most expected to one of the top 10 or top 5.

06:36It's a very different spot to be in.

06:38Right, if you were to choose between great reviews or blockbuster success,

06:41what would you say you would, or is it a combination, what would you choose?

06:45I want everything. I want everything.

06:48When you do a great job, I think it's a universal language that everybody will feel it.

06:52Everybody will be like, you know, from the masses to the reviews to everybody.

06:56When you do a great film, I think universally everybody will accept it.

06:59Are you audacious?

07:00I would always like to be in that spot, as much as possible.

07:03Both, with a lot of…

07:05With everybody, I want everybody, you know, I want everybody to be happy.

07:07Right, like what do you do when, I know you're the most like, you're like a bright spot

07:11in the sun, but I'm sure there are days when you also want to give yourself a pep talk.

07:15What do you tell? What does Arjun tell himself?

07:18Say, you know what, things are not so bad, come on, you know, stop, stop your self-pitying mode.

07:22Do you go through those phases?

07:23Yeah, of course, I think every human goes, man.

07:25I just keep saying, come back.

07:27You know, we all go off, I just keep saying, come back, come back, come back.

07:31That's all I keep telling myself, come back, it's okay, come back.

07:34Of course, and you're also very keenly aware of your privilege.

07:37Your dad is a producer, did that really, are you aware of your privilege as well?

07:42And where you have reached so far?

07:43One hundred percent, I'm a very, in all honesty, I'm extremely privileged.

07:47I've been very, very fortunate, you know, it's not so easy, you know,

07:52and I cannot, how do I say, it's a very fortunate spot to be where I am

07:57and I absolutely understand that because when I see, you know,

08:00so many people struggling actors and newcomers, you know, people who are self-made,

08:04I have utmost respect for people like those.

08:07So, of course, I do know how fortunate I am to be in this kind of a spot.

08:12Of course, and Prithviraj has gone, undergone a crazy transformation

08:15for the movie called The Goatland.

08:17Absolutely.

08:18Would you as an actor as well think about putting yourself to extreme lengths for a role?

08:23I would, I would.

08:26Right.

08:27I mean, yeah, I would, yeah, I mean, for a role, whatever the role requires, I would do it.

08:30And why do you think that works, that part of your personality really clicks?

08:34Honestly, my uncle Chiranjeevi is a great dancer and I do have his influences on me

08:39and also, you know, we grew up watching, you know, many Prabhudeva songs

08:45and also Govinda songs and, you know, Michael Jackson.

08:48We're from that era, people, right?

08:49So, all these people's, how do I say, subconscious impressions are on me.

08:54Right.

08:55Definitely, they're there.

08:56Brilliant.

08:57What would you tell your 20-year-old self if you could?

08:59Now that you have a statue, you've done well.

09:01I think you've ticked all the boxes.

09:03But even then.

09:04Not really.

09:05Not really.

09:06What would you tell your 20-year-old self, Alok?

09:09Do exactly what you did.

09:11Fantastic.

09:12On that note, you did so well.

09:14Thank you for entertaining us.

09:16If you're in a movie, we watch it and that's the biggest goodwill I think an actor gets.

09:20Thank you so much for your time.

09:22And congratulations.

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