Varun Tej: I thought action films were tough; F3 taught me that comedy is even more challenging

Actor Varun Tej will keenly hope that his upcoming release F3 will help him move on from a debacle like Ghani. F3, set to hit screens tomorrow, is a spiritual sequel to Anil Ravipudi’s comic caper F2: Fun and Frustration, where he reunites with Venkatesh, Tamannaah and Mehreen Pirzada. In a media interaction, Varun appears assured of F3’s success.

“I really trusted Anil Ravipudi with this film. I and Venkatesh had watched F2 in theatres; we were thrilled by how audiences reacted to it and decided to take up the sequel instantly. Anil had narrated the seed idea during F2 and the film is three-times more entertaining,” the Kanche actor shares.

Varun felt that action films were tough to execute but was proved wrong with the F3 experience, where he realised the challenge of pulling off humour. “What happens if someone stammers and has a friend who suffers from nightblindness and meet during a night? The film was born out of that idea and has worked out hilariously,” he states.

All that Varun did on sets was to follow the instructions of Anil Ravipudi to get his stammering-act right. However, he was a bundle of nerves on day one and got into the skin of the role with the faith that the director had in him. “Everytime, he struggles to speak, I need to portray a different mannerism and it was a huge challenge, but audiences will enjoy it on the screen.”

One of his best takeaways from the film was the working experience with Venkatesh - who, despite being a father figure, shared a brotherly rapport with him. “I feel lucky to have worked with Venkatesh twice. I am immensely fond of him and he’s a chilled out, cool person. He is a disciplined man and after seeing him, I used to come to the set a couple of minutes before my time,” Varun adds.

The entire F3 experience felt like working with a family and he fondly remembers veteran artistes Y Vijaya and Annapurnamma bringing food for everyone on set. As an actor, he feels that the OTT wave has forced the industry to change its ways. His next after F3 is an action film with Praveen Sattaru, which will be significantly shot in London.