Jiiva on playing YS Jagan Mohan Reddy in Yatra 2: ‘I have no idea about AP politics, I approached it as an actor’

More than a decade after the dubbed film Rangam became a massive hit in Telugu, actor Jiiva is ready to debut in the language. Jiiva and Mammootty in a still from Yatra 2 ‘I was sceptical to do Yatra 2’ Jiiva says he was hesitant to say yes to Yatra 2 initially. I trained for two months just to get the dialogues right and playing Jagan was something I took very responsibly.” Jiiva on playing AP CM YS Jagan Mohan Reddy ‘I approached this only from an artistic perspective’ The political implications of a film like Yatra 2, which paints the opposition as morally wrong if the teaser is anything to go by, and releases in an election year cannot be ignored. Jiiva on the politics of Yatra 2 ‘I waited 12 years to debut in Telugu’ Jiiva played cameos in films like Anushka Shetty’s Size Zero and Naga Chaitanya’s Custody, but this is his first film as a lead in a direct Telugu film. I waited for 12 years to get a film like Yatra 2.” Adding that he saw Mammootty’s performance as the late AP CM YS Rajasekhara Reddy, Jagan’s father, in Yatra, Jiiva says, “I felt Mahi knew how to get the best out of his actors.” Jiiva on wanting to do more Telugu films Mammootty played the late AP CM YS Rajasekhara Reddy in Yatra ‘I grew up in Hyderabad’ While Jiiva is from Chennai, his father RB Choudary of Super Good Films produced some good Telugu films, apart from Tamil and Malayalam.