Megastar Chiranjeevi, who is a winner of many hearts, is considered almost next to NTR and ANR in terms of popularity. He has not only been known for his perfect dances but also for his acting capabilities, which he has proved many a times with his movies like. Rudra Veena, Aapad Baandhavudu, Swayam Krushi, Subha Lekha etc.

Well, his commercial hits are too many to mention. Whatever kind of role it may be, this large eyed handsome hero has always given his best.We all know that the megastar is going to play the role of Lord Shiva in his forthcoming film Sri Manjunatha and he seems to be excited about this role. Let's know what the megastar tells about his role in Sri Manjunatha.

What made you accept the role of Shiva in Sri Manjunatha?
Bharavi, the storywriter and director Raghavendra Rao are the main people behind this project. Of all the navarasas Bhakti rasa is very important, the bhakti (the devotion) may be towards god or towards one's own country. And Sri Manjunatha is a beautiful story of a devotee's belief in Lord Shiva and the movie would definitely create an interest in the audience and would make them sit in their seats happily for two and a half hours.

Basically, from the beginning I had an interest of doing some mythological role and I was always fascinated at NTR. And the dissatisfaction has always been there in my heart that I could not do a mythological role, which could be remembered and cherished in the history of cinema. And the role in this movie gave me satisfaction to some extent at least.

But your fans expect something different from you. Isn't it!
See, as I told you, I am doing this role only to satisfy the actor in me but not to attract my fans. But it's not only a movie, which has devotion but also has all the elements, which would definitely attract the mass. And the director Raghavendra Rao has come out with excellent comedy, which takes place in Kailasa parvatam. I am sure that this movie would definitely attract all sections of people. Shiva's role is less in the movie but his presence can be felt throughout the movie.

Did you take any special care, while you were playing the role of Shiva?
No. Nothing in particular. I did not follow any rules regarding any food habits because in past also those who have done such kind of roles did not follow any such rules. I did this role with quite ease since I have already played the role of Shiva in many of my commercial movies. And as director told me that in my role there is also comedy involved, so I played the role as any other role. Bharavi has defined each character (the character's behavior etc.) very well, that's why I could smoothly do it.

How did Raghavendra Rao shape the movie?
After Nagubabu and Aravind, it's Raghavendra Rao, whom I admire a lot. I liked his Annammayya a lot. And when he offered me the role of Shiva, I was extremely happy. The highlights of this movie are the performances of Arjun and Soundraya and they really deserve awards and will definitely get the awards. If I had been offered with the role of Arjun, I would have definitely accepted it. It's a solid character. The tunes lent by Hamsalekha are very good and they are like slow poison. The more you listen, the more they attract you.

The song sung by Shankar Mahadevan is excellent and the song in which Manjunatha criticizes Lord Shiva is equally good. There is a song written by Bharavi, which has 52 forms of Lord Shiva written in 52 words and Hamsalekha, has tuned the song in 52 ragas and the director has picturised it on 52 lingaas. Isn't it great! This is going to be a great gift to the music lovers.

The story of Manjunatha is not related to Andhra...
Lord Shiva is worshipped in many forms as Malikarjuna, Kalahasteeshwarudu etc... Similarly, Manjunatha also worships Shiva in many forms. So, nativity of the story should not be paid any heed to.

Many were awaiting with their call sheets and how come suddenly, you gave dates to Jaya Sree?
Well! In Bharavi's words, its all Manjunatha's will! (Laughs...) When Bharavi told me about the story, I liked it. As I already had a desire to play such a role, I immediately accepted the role in 20 mts. And regarding the producer, I am proud that Jaya Sree, a Telugu lady is a top producer in Kannada field. And I wish that Sri Manjunatha achieves success and she gets a name in Tollywood too.