To be honest, my first film Akhil' was a disaster and to come out of the negativity it brought, it took a lot of time.
Akhil Akkineni
Every son needs his father to be a hero and my father is like a superhero!
I know the world isn't always beautiful or magical.
Fans always have an opinion of their own. We only try to live up to their expectations.
In Telugu filmdom, audiences like to see their hero dance, fight and play a larger-than-life character. It's precisely why most of our commercial films do extremely well and get remade too.
When I'm bored, I hate being alone so there's always a friend at my place.
If I choose a holiday destination, it would be a beach.
My parents are super chilled-out.
Everyone likes a little bit of flirting and I do indulge in healthy flirting at times.
No matter how much buzz you create for a film, it's the content that finally gets judged.
I don't know whether it was my fault or someone else's fault, but I was extremely disappointed that my first film was a total washout.
Whether you are a star kid or not, it all depends on the actor and how he/she can get the audience to the theatre.
If Hello' had been my debut film, the numbers would have played out differently.
All my staff is male and the same age group as me.
I was always the shy one around, I wouldn't sing even in family gatherings.
You know, it's so tough not to be bit by the acting bug being in this film family.
Sometime in your teens you have to decide what you want to do. I knew it had to be cinema.
I want to give fans what's expected of me and once I've made my mark, I can experiment and do the kind of films I'd like to do.
As I represent the next generation of the Akkineni clan, I'm expected to do much more. It's the only fear that makes me realize how hard I have to work to survive.
I love to be outdoors.
As a child I had a lot of energy and took to sports.
I had a normal upbringing, studied in Chaitanya Vidyalaya till class VIII, went to Australia for two years, returned and did my Inter at Oakridge. I wasn't inclined towards academics. I barely scraped through.
Honestly, I wanted to play it safe with my first film; I didn't want to do something completely out of the box.
My father is my go-to man.
I'm not much of a dancer.
I would definitely love to do Hindi films but I'll choose films carefully.
Ever since I can remember, over-expectation and pressure have been my worst enemies.
There's nothing wrong in starting all over again and taking it step-by-step.
The problem is that right from the beginning, there was this whole pressure that I've had to make it big. I don't know if it's my fault or if someone else created this atmosphere around me, but it's been there.
Not that I have any regrets about my first film. It was a learning experience and I'm grateful for the opportunity. But I think somewhere we went wrong with the planning and execution of my debut.
My Dad has been on board for the entire project. He has produced Hello' and made sure that everything is just right this time.
From childhood, both my brother and I have had only one hero, and that's our dad.
Unfortunately, I have a temper. I tend to flare up once in a while.
In person, I am a person who doesn't talk about myself.
It's important for an actor to self-analyze.
'Hello' was a niche film with no high levels of energy. It had no much happiness, no much dance in its screenplay. But it did a lot of good for me. I was in a negative space before it happened.
Though my first love is cricket, I was never away from any other disciplines too.
I see marriage as a new beginning in my life.
'Mr. Majnu' is a modern and passionate love and he loves to be around girls, they love him too. But, I'm nothing like that in real life.
Being a star son, everywhere I would go the first question that I would face was When is your debut?' I guess that's why it had to be planned well, for the curiosity that exists about your debut film is the highest and it makes for grand openings.
In the evenings, I like to go for dinners with my close friends.
If it's a Sunday, I usually wake up by around 11-11:30 A. M.
I have been brought up in a house where animals are our friends and we treat them as equals.
When someone is mean to a dog, they are being cruel to a living being.
Animals don't deserve to be abused. They deserve to be friends with us and they deserve to be appreciated for the beautiful beings they are.
The star family status can easily get you opportunities, but the offers dry up after a point when you don't prove yourself.
Irrespective of my father's support, if people don't like me there's nothing my family status can do about it.
When you come from a star family in the South, you're expected to be really good in dance and fights. It's really important that you open up as an actor in front of the camera.
Audiences are brutally honest nowadays. If they don't like an actor, they have all the right to write him off.
About him as a father, I can only say that he has been nothing less than a hero in real life to me and an inspiration like no other. I'm just in awe of his life and I am so grateful to be a part of his life.
