Why Telugu star Adivi Sesh understands Punjabi easily

Hyderabad, April 6  Telugu actor Adivi Sesh surprises you with his Punjabi accent. The actor further stumps you by saying that, not only the accent, he can actually fully understand the Punjabi language, although he although he never lived in northern India.

The reason is his move to California from Hyderabad during the formative years, he reveals.

“I grew up in California, San Francisco, and there were no Telugu folks (around). In the 1990s you didn’t find any Telugu folks (in California). All my friends were Gujarati and Punjabi. These guys had come from smaller towns of India and they would struggle with English and I wanted a sense of being an Indian while growing up. It would be a lot of back and forth if I spoke in English and they spoke in Hindi. So, I picked up their accent from them!” the 35-year-old actor tells IANS.

He adds on a lighter note: “I do understand Punjabi, by the way. If I see people scolding me in Punjabi, I would easily understand what they are saying.”

The actor will soon be seen in “Major”, which is inspired by the life of 26/11 martyr Sandeep Unnikrishnan. He announced on Monday that besides Telugu and Hindi, the film will also release in Malayalam.

Interestingly, besides acting in the film, he is also the writer of the project. He has earlier scripted his hit films such as “Kshanam”, “Goodachari” and “Kiss”. Does being a writer affect his choices as an actor?

“In the beginning of my career, writing was a compulsion because when we like a story, we want to see ourselves in it on the screen, though I was not getting those kinds of films. I am an outsider in the movies and didn’t know anyone. In many ways, writing became my weapon with which I could go into the battle but ultimately it was in service of my acting career,” says the actor.

He adds: “It does help me, when I am hearing a story or watching a film and something feels tonally off or disingenuous. However, I don’t want to be limited to the stories I write because then I will end up doing the same character written by me in every film because. It happens because a certain kind of comfort creeps in. I am ultimately one person and I try not to let the writer in me restrict the actor in me.”