Kalyan Ram on Amigos: Don’t want to get repetitive as an actor, I’m quite conscious of my choices

Nandamuri Kalyan Ram, who bounced back in his career with the success of Pataas, is working on his consistency while associating with quality products like Bimbisara, 118 in the recent past. On a high after the success of the fantasy drama Bimbisara, the actor tests his fortunes with an action thriller Amigos, in which he plays a triple role for a story revolving around three doppelgängers.

Amigos, directed by debutant Rajendra Reddy, is hitting screens this weekend. Ahead of its release, Kalyan Ram interacted with media on Wednesday. “Bimbisara’s success was certainly a confidence booster. It also increases my responsibility to come up with better films, work harder and gives me the courage to experiment. Amigos was finalised right in 2020,” he said.

It was Mythri Movie Makers that convinced him to listen to Rajendra’s story and he had no second thoughts about giving a nod to it. “He had associated with the banner for a year and the story around doppelgangers fascinated me and I was game for the challenge. One of my three avatars in the film is an out and out villain, it’s away from the mainstream formula and the mix interested me.”

Kalyan Ram enjoyed playing both the protagonist and the antagonist in the film and he asserts all three characters that he plays is crucial to the story. With a crisp runtime of 137 minutes, the makers wanted a catchy title around friendship and chose the Spanish word Amigos. He feels the film’s theme, despite its novelty, is relatable and doesn’t want to label it ‘experimental cinema’.

118 was more experimental than Amigos and Bimbisara. He says most of his films are within the mainstream format but with an interesting twist. Amigos isn’t a film where music drives the story and hence the team looked for a number that wouldn’t distract the audiences and yet work as a relief amidst the tension in the narrative. The remix of Enno Ratrulostayi fit the bill perfectly.

It wasn’t smooth going to play a triple role, the actor adds. “While Siddharth is quite like me in his behaviour, Manjunath is too soft-spoken, much like my director and Michael is a total badass gangster.” Ashika Ranganath’s casting was finalised by the production house and the team and I didn’t have any say in it, he maintains. Given the film’s scope for background score, they opted for Ghibran.

The Athanokkade actor’s main aim is to not get repetitive and he’s quite conscious about what he offers to his audiences. He used the lockdown time in 2020 to introspect on his earlier choices and hasn’t okayed any script after Bimbisara. His next release, Devil, is nearing completion and will wrap up filming in May.