The actor shares the reason why he took a break from Telugu cinema; says the current generation is connecting to the web series.
Telugu actor JD Chakravarthy in a still from 'Dayaa' web series. (pavansadineni/ Twitter)
If Satya (1998) gave JD Chakravarthy an iconic status in movies, it is the newly-streaming Dayaa (on Disney+ Hotstar) that is giving him a fresh start, albeit in a web series.
The actor’s phone hasn’t stopped ringing ever since, and he is basking in the limelight.
“While the entire North belt addresses me as Satya, a gentleman at the airport called me Dayaa recently, and I was overwhelmed. People who know me will definitely love me. But those who don’t know me, especially this generation, are connecting to Dayaa. And it is a huge compliment,” JD told South First, matter-of-factly.
True, this new lot of audiences began watching Satya, Money (1993), Anaganaga Oka Roju (1996), and Gulabi (1995) after watching Dayaa.
For JD Chakravarthy, this adulation didn’t come easily. It is all due to his years of hard work, updating, and upgrading. He stopped signing films and was on a hiatus until director Pavan Sadineni narrated Dayaa‘s plot over a phone call.
“There should be a director who knows the potential of an artiste and extracts the best from him/her. He reminds me of Ram Gopal Varma and his film Shiva (1990). He sees what more can be explored,” the actor said.
JD on the sets of ‘Dayaa’. (Supplied)
The web series has no background score and people might have felt a lag in the initial episodes, but not those who understood the characters and their relationships.
Dayaa is not a violent but an emotional show with JD talking about the bonding with his aides who die. The climax keeps one hooked and asking for more.
Is Dayaa an agent or a kingpin? Well, JD Chakravarthy doesn’t want to give spoilers. “The script is ready and the shooting of the next season will begin shortly,” he said.
In one scene, the audience found the pulling of the intestines from a crime reporter’s body to be gruesome and revolting. The character instructs a man where to cut the body and how to cut it to retrieve a pen drive.
The instructions in impeccable English had the viewers wondering if Dayaa is a failed science student or a serial killer.
The actor replies promptly: “It is not the pattern of a serial killer and he doesn’t suffer from any mental imbalance. Dayaa works on the information given by a media person named Shabana. There are so many conspiracies like what makes you think he didn’t get the pen drive,” he guffawed.
He added, “There is another character called Satya in the story. That will be revealed in the next season. Is Satya dead or is he here as Dayaa? He speaks Oriya, Hindi, and English. There are a helluva lot of revelations in the next part, but the title Dayaa has no symbolic meaning.”
JD Chakravarthy with the team. (Supplied)
Asked about his hiatus from Telugu cinema and if he didn’t find visibility necessary for getting work, JD Chakravarthy replied, “Many friends and well-wishers suggested that I should sign one project or the other so it might click. But rather than doing every content that comes my way, I waited for something that would be a game changer.”
He hastened to add, “There was no excitement in whatever I was offered. The films I refused could be blockbusters. But for me, it wasn’t a good film. That is a relative term. My gut feeling told me to wait, and it paid off.”
When asked if the web series is a rip-off of a Bangladeshi web series, the actor clarified, “Srikanth, the producer of Bangladeshi series Taqdeer, produced this one too. There are no similarities between the two, except for a guy finding a dead body (in an ambulance there and a freezer here). In Taqdeer, there is no character named Alivelu (Dayaa’s wife) and the leader character doesn’t have many layers.”
‘Dayaa’ streaming on Hotstar. (pavansadineni/ Twitter)
JD remarked, “We have more borrowed information than the information mentioned in the media. Someone writes a review and others pick it up and copy it. They said many things about Baahubali (2015) too, but it didn’t make any difference. Dayaa gave me success and a bonus. I knew Dayaa would explode.”
“Most people believe that socialising helps an actor and being visible on social media keeps us in circulation. But I believe that good content resonates.”
JD Chakravarthy signed off by saying, “I went to celebrate the success of Dayaa recently in Vijayawada where people waited eagerly for me to arrive at the venue. I was touched. I thank them all for their love and director Pavan Sadineni for offering me Dayaa. I’m not taking any more breaks now. I am starting Taaza Khabar Season 2 next month.”
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