Sanjay bandi, President of Bharatiya Janata Party, Telangana

After hit films such as "Tholiprema", "Fidaa" and "F2" to his credit, Varun feels he has successfully broken the stereotypical hero's image with "Gaddalakonda Ganesh", in which he has a negative character."For a long time, I was looking to do something different, something that'd break the stereotypical hero image I've maintained so far. I had no inhibition playing a negative character. In fact, I was on the lookout for something so exciting, and this project couldn't have come at a better time. It gave me the opportunity to experiment and challenge myself," Varun told ."Gaddalakonda Ganesh", directed by Harish Shankar, saw Varun play a much older character. He wondered if audiences will accept him as a 40-plus man on screen."I didn't want them to see me as a young guy playing an older character. I wanted them to be convinced that I could pull off an older character and I was overwhelmed by the response. Most of my films so far have been well received but 'Gaddalakonda Ganesh' is the first film that was truly celebrated, and I mean literally. It worked with the masses in a big way," he said.Apart from the look of his character, Varun was particularly praised for his Telangana dialect in the film. He said he worked extra hard while dubbing for his character."It was hard to sound like an older person. Usually, I finish dubbing for my character in a few hours but just for the interval sequence in "Gaddalakonda Ganesh", I dubbed for close to eight hours. I didn't want even a single word to sound off because the Telangana dialect had to be authentic," Varun explained.His next project casts him as a boxer, Varun will shed a lot of weight."The training process will soon begin. I will work closely with a trainer from Mumbai to shed weight. My boxing trainer will be flown in from Los Angeles and the training process will begin soon. It's going to be a very exciting project and we plan to mount it on a large scale," he said.Varun also confirmed he will reunite with his "Antariksham" producer Rajeev Reddy for a new Telugu project."Rajeev and I are coming together for something really interesting. "Antariksham" didn't yield the kind of reception we had anticipated, but we knew the mistakes we made with that film. The failure hasn't affected our relationship. We are still great friends and we can't wait to work together again," he added.( With inputs from IANS )

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Telangana Home Minister Mohammed Mahmood Ali on Friday said the alleged rape and murder of the female veterinary doctor could have been prevented had she called up the police rather than her sister, upon sensing danger. ...

Women activist and doctors from the city have demanded strictest action against the murder of a veterinary doctor who was burnt to death after suspected sexual assault. ...

The National Commission for Women (NCW) on Friday constituted an inquiry committee headed by a member of the commission to look into the incident of a woman veterinarian who was reportedly set on fire after being sexually assaulted in Telangana. ...

Hundreds of employees of Telangana State Road Transport Corporation (TSRTC) were arrested across Telangana on Tuesday to prevent them from joining duties after 52-day-long strike. ...

Chairman of the BJP Hyderabad Gulf Coordination Committee, TR Sriniwas slammed Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao for his insensitive comments on the issue of suicides by Telangana State Road Transport Corporation (TSRTC) employees. ...

Five months after attending as a special guest the inauguration of Telangana's massive lift irrigation project Kaleshwaram, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy's government demanded that the project should not be given national statu ...

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Wednesday issued a statement slamming Chief Minister K.Chandra Sekhar Rao of not fulfilling the demands of the protesting RTC employees and alleged that the 'head of the government has lost grip on the state'. ...

Actor Varun Tej, who recently played a dreaded gangster in the Telugu film "Gaddalakonda Ganesh", will next be seen essaying a boxer in a yet-untitled project. He says he wishes to challenge himself with his upcoming films. ...