'Inttelligent' will be a thoroughly entertaining film: Sai Dharam Tej

The trailer of 'Inttelligent' begins with a slightly re-worded version of a line from Mahatma Gandhi’s essay, “Doctrine of the Sword” which goes: When faced with a choice between violence and cowardice, always choose violence. It is followed by Sai Dharam Tej’s dialogue, “From now onwards, Dharmabhai.com is the platform for the poor,” after which a montage of shots in which the actor is bashing up goons, braving gun shots follow, making it pretty clear that the film is an action entertainer.And Sai Dharam Tej is very confident ahead of the film’s release.
“I’m very excited and relaxed and have no nervousness. I’m that kind of a person, no matter what the result is, I’m happy with the work I do. And I’m sure people will be thoroughly entertained,” he says, before settling down for a chat with Hyderabad Times. Excerpts...
It’s a curious title, Inttelligent...
(Smiles) The title basically sums up my character, Teja. He is very smart and sees things that most others don’t in any situation. There is an old adage in Telugu, ‘Oka sahayam pondina vyakthi, sahayam chesina vyakthini marchipookudadu’ (A man who received help must never forget the person who helped him). And my character is someone who believes in it completely.
Seems like a very intense character from the look of it...
Well, my character begins on a happy note and changes track as the plot progresses. Teja is a software professional who doesn’t bother about anything much other than his happiness. He loves his job and boss. However, his life takes a U-turn when a certain disturbance causes him great trauma. He angrily sets out to seek revenge against the culprit responsible for ruining his happy life. So yes you’ll see me killing a lot of people in the movie. (Laughs)
What was it like to work with director VV Vinayak...
I had four flops before this film and a lot of people wrote me off. But VV Vinayak sir, whose last film was Chiranjeevi garu’s 'Khaidi No 150', believed in me, stood by me and supported me, so I’m very thankful for that. He’s very genuine by nature and believes in hard work and perseverance. That’s what inspires actors to go the extra mile. I remember one incident. We were shooting for a song sequence in Hyderabad after which I was exhausted. But he came up to me smiling and said, ‘Can we do another shot? We could do it tomorrow also...,’ the way he said it I couldn’t say no.
You must be really hoping that this film will help you shake off your flop streak at the BO...
I don’t think that way. The way I see it, all films are important to me, regardless of success or failure. Because, every film has taught me something new. I’ve seen a lot of actors go through ups and downs in their careers. So for me, every movie is the same and as long as you are getting work, you cannot complain.
How was it working with Lavanya Tripathi?
She is a very sweet girl who’s funny, quirky and understands humour. I really enjoyed and had fun working with her. We have a cute love track in the film; watch out for our on-screen chemistry. Produced by C Kalyan under CK Entertainments, 'Inttelligent' is releasing on Feb 9.