Manish Chaudhari Makes His Telugu Debut With Nagarjuna's ‘The Ghost’

Manish Chaudhari has done a barrage of versatile roles and garnered accolades for his multiple roles in films and shows like ‘Rocket Singh: Salesman Of The Year’, Hotstar's ‘Aarya’, Netflix's ‘Bombay Begums’, Hotstar's ‘Shoorveer’, ‘Batla House’, ‘Satyameva Jayate’, ‘Powder’, ‘Zubaan’, ‘Bombay Velvet’, ‘Mohenjo Daro’, ‘Sanam Teri Kasam’ and many more in his long career span.

Now, he has made his Telugu debut with the film 'The Ghost', written and directed by Praveen Sattaru, starring alongside Nagarjuna, Sonal Chauhan, Gul Panag, Anikha Surendran. The film was released in Telugu on October 5 and in Hindi on October 7 in cinemas.

Talking about the film, the actor gets candid about his role, the challenges of learning Telugu for the film and his working experience in his south debut film ‘The Ghost’.

Giving insight about his role in the film he says, "I play the character of Lala, an underworld don, the main villain of ‘The Ghost’. He is a ruthless gangster with an emotional weakness for his family, all of whom except one have been massacred by ‘The Ghost’. This makes him extremely vulnerable. Lala, even though he is a ruthless gangster, will go to any lengths to protect his family. Lala as a character is extremely vulnerable and has given me a fantastic opportunity to showcase the human, vulnerable side of a criminal. I hope the audience enjoys my portrayal of Lala."

Sharing about preparing for his role Lala and learning Telugu for the same he tells, "Acting in Telugu was a big challenge for me as I don't speak the language. The costume and styling done by Bobby Angara and the facial look set by my make-up artist Anil Gire went a long way in creating the character of Lala. But the most important part of prepping for the character was getting comfortable with speaking Telugu, a language I have never spoken before. Praveen Sattaru's AD team helped me tremendously with this challenge. It worked out so well that Praveen insisted that I also dub in my own voice, which proved to be exhilarating for me as an actor."

Describing his experience working with Nagarjuna, he says, "I have been a fan of Nagarjuna Sir's work since I was a young actor in college. Ram Gopal Verma's ‘Shiva’ came in 1990 and left me hugely impressed. It was fantastic for me to work with him 30 years later. He is also such a wonderful person and extremely friendly. It was truly wonderful for me to be on set with him."

Manish Chaudhari further talks about what made him say yes to the film. He shares, "Praveen Sattaru, the director of ‘The Ghost’ had seen my work and was very keen that I work in his movie. I have also been a huge fan of Nag Sir ever since I saw Ram Gopal Verma's ‘Shiva’ when I was in college in 1990. Praveen's vision for the villain Lala involved a very strong emotional graph which interested me a lot. Lala is a multi-layered character with a strong emotional quotient. It was a very nice experience working in the south industry. Everyone was courteous, professional and supportive."