I stayed honest to what Deva Katta had written: Aadhi Pinisetty on ‘Mayasabha’

CHENNAI: It has been less than a week since the web series, Mayasabha, released on Sony Liv, and Aadhi Pinisetty has been lauded for his on screen portrayal of Kakarla Krishanama Naidu, based on Andhra Pradesh’s Chief Minister, N Chandrababu Naidu. The audience and critics have mentioned this as his career best. “The audience have been pretty interactive about the show even before its release. When a show is made around a politician or a film star, there is some sort of excitement among the viewers. That is how Mayasabha had garnered attention right from the beginning,” says the actor.

Aadhi, who is known for his unique choice of stories and playing offbeat characters, has once again proved his mettle with Kakarla Krishnama Naidu in Mayasabha. He was invested into the character right from the first hour of the narration. “When Deva Katta approached me to play the role, I was happy and told him how I have been a huge fan of his writing. We had an eight-hour narration in one shot and I was intrigued into the script as well as other characters. After four episodes of narration, he asked if we wanted to do it the next day but he had the energy and I was interested too. The fact that we did it in one shot shows that I liked Mayasabha as an audience and as an actor, I have not done something like this before. This gave me an opportunity to go through emotions I have not done previously,” remarks Aadhi.

Having played power-packed roles like Ayyanar in Mirugam, Vasudevan in Eeram, Varippuli in Aravaan, and Senguttuvan in Maragadha Naanayam, Aadhi is known for bringing some subtle traits that leave a mark with the audience. “Since you mentioned Mirugam, Ayyanar has certain traits to him. He functions in a certain way, and that is how directors tend to design character arcs. When such roles come to me, I go a little deeper and see how I can enhance them. Deva had written Krishnama Naidu in such a way that he is intelligent, passionate, he had this love for people and development, and his friendship with Rami Reddy. All these were relatable to me that I immediately connected with the character. I enjoyed playing him because I was able to connect him with my personality. Deva and I would have discussed this arc some 40 to 50 times on sets, where he appreciated me. I was only being honest to what he wrote,” adds the actor.

Aadhi also applauds his co-stars and says, “The entire set was high on performance. Be it Chaitanya Rao, Nassar sir, Divya Dutta or Srikanth Iyengar, they all have made immense contributions with their performances.”

With Mayasabha’s release, Aadhi has made the best of both worlds. “Theatres and OTTs have always gone hand-in-hand despite having different sets of audience. At the end of the day it’s all about being a part of good content and something that I have never done before,” he signs off.