Nani recalls being abused as an assistant director, insulted on set: ‘I felt extremely bad…’

Nani recalled the time when he worked as an assistant director and how his director often used cuss words for him.

New Delhi | March 22, 2023 06:21 PM IST

3 min read

Nani will soon be seen in Dasara.

Nani is gearing up for the release of his pan-India film Dasara. In a recent interview, the actor spoke about the time when he worked as an assistant director in Telugu films and recalled that people would often abuse him on set. Nani worked as an assistant director in various films before he got his big break as the leading hero. The Shyam Singha Roy actor recalled that he would hold his anger when he was abused because there was a bigger dream that he was chasing and that is what kept him going.

In a chat with Bollywood Bubble, Nani recalled, “When you are an assistant director, there are a lot of cuss words they use on you. Particularly when you are the last assistant, when you are the clap assistant. Everybody thinks they can say anything to you and you are someone who is dreaming, who is everyday thinking that you want to be something someday. You can give it back, you can say it back but you hold it. Because there is a bigger dream than just reacting on that day, that moment.” Nani said that even for little things, an assistant is abused and people don’t hold back from using cuss words for someone who clearly does not hold the same power as them on a film set.

The Jersey actor insisted that he “never felt bad because of the cuss words” but was heartbroken when a filmmaker insulted him in front of everyone on the set and said that he would never make it as a director. “When I really felt bad was when a director told me that I’ll never become a director. In front of everyone, he called and said, ‘Mark my words, you will never become a director, you don’t have it in you.’ I felt very bad, extremely bad. Because somebody just saying some bad words is okay but somebody hitting on your dream is very difficult,” he shared.

Also Read | Kumar Sanu on stories behind his 7 most-loved songs: When RD Burman abused him, Salman Khan couldn’t lip-sync his song

Nani shared that all these incidents “happened back-to-back” but the hurt he felt at the time, he can take it all again. “All that is nothing when it comes to what I have today. So I am full of gratitude. I can go through that two more times to be able to enjoy this,” the actor said.

Nani starrer Dasara, also starring Keerthy Suresh, releases in theatres on March 30.

From the homepage