Telugu superstar Adivi Sesh, who plays 26/11 martyr Sandeep Unnikrishnan in the film ‘Major’, has flown down to Mumbai from Hyderabad to get together with Sandeep Unnikrishnan’s parents, K Unnikrishnan and Dhanalakshmi Unnikrishnan. They together are paying a tribute at the Taj where the 2008 terror attack had occurred.
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Speaking to me from the Hyderabad airport Sesh said, “We decided to pay a tribute to the person, who is the reason for this entire dream project Major to exist. I will have a conversation with Uncle and Aunty, that’s how I address his parents, on the scars and wounds of 26/11 that will never heal.”
“It is the producers’ idea that we gather together at the Taj in Mumbai as remembrance of stings past. I was visiting Aunty and Uncle in Bangalore to take their blessings, when they came up with this idea.”
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Adivi went into a strict military-like regimen to play the part.
“I had to look extremely fit and slim. I lost ten kgs in three months before we started shooting for ‘Major’. A strict diet plan was worked out, and I followed it faithfully,” he said.
Adivi sees playing the Ashoka Chakra winner as a huge responsibility.
“It is my first real-life character. And to be playing a man so heroic courageous and iconic is to me, the greatest privilege an actor can get. I gave this role all the love and respect it deserves,” he said.
‘Major’ is a major departure for Adivi from all the characters he has played so far.
“After my last release Evaru I wanted to do something in a different genre. I’ve done the suspense genre twice in Kshanam and Evaru in the last three years. I grew up wanting to play a soldier. Now I’ve finally done it,” he said.
Speaking on how his dream role materialized Sesh says, “You may find this hard to believe, but I had been dreaming of playing Major Sandeep Unnikrishnan for 11 years. Even through my stay in San Francisco, I was completely taken up by his grit. I felt like he was my brother.
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“So playing him on screen is just a logical culmination of my dream.When Mahesh Babu, who is a co-producer on this project, and his wife, Namrata Shirodkar, approached me with this offer it felt unreal. How could I be offered a chance to play a character that I have only dreamt of playing for so many years?!”
