Naga Chaitanya was kicked out of class for not watching

Naga Chaitanya, who played the role of his grandfather A Nageswara Rao in Savitri’s biopic, Mahanati, spoke about how it felt to step into the shoes of his grandfather in a video released by the makers, Vyjayanthi Movies. Chaitanya explains how he was initially hesitant to play the role of his grandfather on screen and was hoping to say no to Nag Ashwin.

“When Naggy approached me, I told him I needed time to decide and first called my father. I was hoping he would say no, so that I could tell Naggy that my family was not okay with this. However, I ended up playing the part,” he said. Naga Chaitanya recalled how when he was in school, he was asked if he had watched Devadas, one of his grandfather’s most popular films and he said he hadn’t. “I was sent out of class and was told that I cannot come back till I watch the film,” he said with a smile. Chaitanya worked on the recreation of few scenes from the film for Mahanati. He also said that if he had not worked on the film, he would have regretted it. “If someone else had worked on the film instead of me, I wouldn’t have been able to live with the guilt,” he said. The actor also thanked audience for encouraging a film like Mahanati.