Easy to get typecast in film industry: Venu Thottempudi

Chennai: Telugu actor Venu Thottempudi, popular for playing the lead in comedy films for over a decade, says that there is a high risk of being typecast in the film industry if one continues to do similar roles often.

"If your forte is comedy, then you`re mostly offered such roles because you have been typecast as a comedy hero. Even when you think you`re ready to graduate to other type of roles, it us unlikely the industry allows you to do so," Venu told reporters. He himself hasn`t ever said no to comedy films. "I enjoy playing such roles and I think they are my strength too. But, I also feel that as an actor, I want to experiment with other roles too. I`m keen on playing characters for the masses, but all I get is comedy films," he added. Venu is known for hit comedy Telugu films such as "Hanuman Junction", "Pellam Oorelithe" and "Sri Krishna 2006". Queried why he doesn`t demand parts in films of other genres, he said: "An actor doesn`t usually go in search of a film, instead it comes to him or her. However, films that come to me, mostly belong to comedy genre. I take them up because I can`t keep saying no to every other film." Venu returned to silver screen in a lead role with "Ramachari", which released Friday, nearly after four years. "I did a couple of cameos in the last two years. I spent lot of time on `Ramachari`, which is very close to my heart. It was supposed to release nearly a year ago, but we had some technical issue with the film`s output, and, therefore, had to delay the release," he said. As of now, he has two Telugu films in the offing. IANS