I am not really missing theatre as I get to act in films, that too in different languages, such as Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and Marathi, my mother tongue.
I was eight years old when I was offered a film. And before I knew it, I was acting in Kannada, Malayalam, Tamil, and Telugu movies.
I struggled a bit with Malayalam, but it was easier speaking Tamil; it is closer to Telugu.
I have been watching all kind of films and I am a bit familiar with Kannada, Telugu and Tamil.
Besides Kannada, I also know Telugu and Tamil fairly well.
Telugu is a lot like Kannada, so I don't have a problem with Telugu. But Tamil is very difficult to learn, man.
My mother tongue is Telugu. I was born and brought up in Tamil Nadu.
My thought process is in Malayalam. So, every time I have to work outside Malayalam, the process is a little stressful. I have to translate my Malayalam thoughts into English and back to Tamil.
Tamil is almost like my mother tongue and for quite some time, I had been concentrating on Telugu.
Telugu and Tamil industries keenly watch Malayalam movies and are appreciative of the content, be it 'Ustad Hotel,' 'Premam' or 'Bangalore Days.' They've also been listening to our music. That's how I was approached for Telugu films.
I have done films in Tamil, Telugu, Kannada. I don't find any difference.
The pacing in Tamil and Telugu is very different from Malayalam cinema.
I am open to working in all southern language - Tamil, Telugu and Malayalam.
I have sung some songs in Telugu and Malayalam. And I want to sing in Tamil, too.
I am not familiar with Telugu, Tamil or Malayalam and tend to feel they are foreign languages to me.
I learnt to sing in Bengali, my mother tongue, then went on to sing in Hindi, Telugu, Tamil, Gujarati and every possible Indian language.