Ever since Uma Maheswara Ugra Roopasya (UMUR) released on July 30 on OTT platform Netflix, the internet is abuzz with memes and appreciation pouring in for the film from all quarters. The resounding success of the film, a remake of the Malayalam hit Maheshinte Prathikaaram, has established Satyadev as a successful leading actor.
TNM caught up with Satyadev, who has been busy giving multiple interviews since UMUR’s success.
Elated over the overwhelming reception from the Telugu audience, Satya laughs and says, “Right now I am gazing through the window, enjoying the monsoon rains while devouring molten chocolate vanilla ice cream. You can multiply this feeling into 10 times. That is what I have been feeling since the film’s release.”
He adds, “It is a terrific feeling. When I open my Instagram, there are thousands of memes. I can’t remember the time when each character from a film was so widely discussed and celebrated.”
Satya says that he and Venkatesh Maha, the director of UMUR, had immense faith in the film, but did not anticipate such a great response. “We knew that we were going to present the Telugu audience a wonderful story but it has now gone beyond our imagination.”
Still from UMUR
UMUR is the remake of the 2016 superhit Malayalam film Maheshinte Prathikaaram in which actor Fahadh Faasil played the lead role. Besides Satyadev, the cast of UMUR includes Roopa Koduvayur, Hari Chandana Koppisetty, Suhas, and veteran actor Naresh among others.
Speaking about the challenge in playing a character which was first played by Fahadh, who is considered to be a phenomenal actor, Satya says, “Though I had the confidence in myself, I initially had doubts because people were going to compare. The comparisons were inevitable. And irrespective of who played the role in the original, human tendency is to like that character. But Maha (the director) helped me in overcoming this. Maha asked me not to rewatch the film and he gave me his inputs.”
Sharing his experience of working with Venkatesh Maha of C/o Kancharapalem fame, he says, “Maha believes in spontaneity, he believes that ‘overdoing’ diminishes the output, so he used to give me dialogues just before the shooting or a day earlier, it was a different experience working with him. We used to discuss a lot.”
UMUR story is set in Araku, a region dominated by adivasis and least explored by the Telugu film industry except for songs. Being a native of Visakhapatnam also helped him in his character development, Satya says.
Still from UMUR
The actor says that the method acting process of living like Mahesh for nearly two months helped his onscreen performance. “Slowly after the preparation for the role, it became a muscle memory for me to behave like Mahesh. In our heads we were doing a new film!”
Like the entire production team of UMUR, Satya too was depressed that the film could not be released on the big screen due to the coronavirus pandemic. But, Satya has made peace with it, considering how widely the film is being celebrated. “I felt really bad. Never in the wildest of our dreams did we think that something of this sort (coronavirus pandemic) would happen. UMUR was meant for the big screen. It was a treat for the fans to celebrate on the big screen. People would have gone crazy when Jyothi (Roopa Koduvayur) danced to the hit songs of all the Telugu stars. There was a reason we chose those songs. We wanted the fans to celebrate it.”
Sharing an anecdote from the sets about a scene which was very challenging, Satya says, “The climax fight sequence was physically challenging as I had an elbow injury. Suffering the excruciating pain under the scorching sun and getting into a brawl without any dupes was very tough for me. And in this, Maha wanted me to bounce like how it would happen in Telugu action films,” Satya laughs.
In an industry ruled by actors who are sons of veteran stars, Satya is an outsider without any film background. He made his debut in the Telugu film industry with Prabhas’s Mr Perfect, which released in 2011. He played a friend of the hero's. Following this, he played many such roles, staying in the background. Though he wanted to become an actor, doing so full-time without getting paid was not an option for him. To sustain himself, he worked as a computer engineer in IBM, juggling between two careers.
However, in 2016 he quit his job and made acting his main career. Though he got a few opportunities, those projects did not take off, and the ones which worked did not pay him. He got his first opportunity to play a lead role in Bluff Master, which released in 2018. But the film tanked at the box-office. Despite all the hardships of those four years, Satya wouldn’t term it his ‘struggling phase.’
“How can I call it a struggling phase when I knew what I had signed up for?” he quips. “I made a resolve when I decided to become a full-time actor: No matter what, I should not quit acting.”
Satya says that at the beginning of his career, getting noticed for his performance by director Trivikram was a huge achievement which taught him a big lesson in life: “No matter how small a role, give it your 100% and live that role for that period.” Satya had played the small role of a goon in Trivikram’s Atharintiki Daaredi.
“In the film Pawan Kalyan hits me on the leg at the beginning of the fight and chases the gang in the shopping mall. Throughout that sequence, I was limping. What I did was what any actor is expected to do. But Trivikram was impressed with my commitment and asked me to meet him once he comes back from Italy.” Moments like these gave hope to me, he says.
Satya has two upcoming films: Skylab with Nithya Menen and a yet to be titled film with Tamannaah Bhatia.