Siddhu Jonnalagadda on 'Jack', acting-only role and 'Tillu Cube' plans

Siddhu Jonnalagadda returns to cinemas on April 10 with Jack, a Telugu investigative action entertainer written and directed by Bhaskar, known for Bommarillu. The film arrives a year after Tillu Square, which crossed the ₹100-crore mark at the box office.

For Siddhu, Jack is unusual in one respect: it is the only project in nine years, apart from a brief role in Kalki (2019), in which he has not doubled up as co-writer, co-editor or creative producer. He describes the experience as a relief. Although he felt some withdrawal symptoms at first, he resisted the urge to get involved in other departments and gradually began to enjoy concentrating solely on acting. He recalled an interview in which Diljit Dosanjh said he likes to take a break by doing nothing, calling it the best way to reset.

He has hardly been idle otherwise. Between shooting schedules, he and his friend, director Ravikanth Perepu, have completed three scripts, with more stories lined up.

Humour and the core story

Jack carries a strong streak of humour, and Siddhu's character is dialogue-heavy, much like Tillu. Since his hyperlocal one-liners in DJ Tillu and Tillu Square became popular, audiences have come to expect fun lines from him. He says he and Bhaskar decided not to remove that element entirely, as he does not want to shock viewers by turning suddenly serious or silent, while remaining careful about not getting stuck in that image. The film deals with larger issues, and the humour does not dilute its core, he adds.

He notes that he now understands why actors in his struggling days would turn down films that did not suit their image. At the same time, he is keen on roles with different shades, including the intense romantic drama Telusu Kada, directed by Neeraja Kona.

His character in Jack is named Pablo Neruda, a detail he finds quirky and intriguing. In the film, his mother is a fan of the Chilean poet and names him after him. Siddhu says many youngsters today may know Pablo Escobar but not the poet, so the name could spark curiosity.

A line in the trailer in which his character comments on his own tendency to talk too much was an on-set improvisation, he reveals. The opponent delivers a long monologue that irritates his character, and the frustration comes out through humour.

Jack also reunites Siddhu with Bhaskar, with whom he worked on the 2010 Telugu film Orange in a brief role. He says that on Orange, Ram Charan would have had detailed discussions with the director, whereas this time, as the lead, he spoke a lot with Bhaskar, adding that understanding a director's vision matters when driving a story.

Writing, structure and what comes next

Krishna and His Leela, which had a direct digital release during the lockdown, was a breakthrough for Siddhu as both co-writer and actor, while Tillu made him a household name. Asked whether Jack feels like a test after two Tillu films, he says every film is a new test.

After Jack and Telusu Kada, he will begin work on Badass, co-written with Ravikanth Perepu. The two have known each other for 15 years and first collaborated on Krishna and His Leela. Ravikanth notes that no one in their circle is a yes man, and that debate and discussion are the norm. Siddhu agrees, saying that is why he trusts them, and that when he disagrees with Ravikanth or with Mallik Ram, co-writer and director of Tillu Square, they step back and try to see the other's perspective.

Ravikanth also points to Siddhu's ability to analyse a script's structure and sense when to introduce drama, calling him a script structure doctor. Siddhu credits this to watching editor Navin Nooli at work on the Tillu films, saying that observing how differently Naveen perceives a film taught him a lot, and that he is now applying that understanding while working on a script with Ravikanth.

An engineer and MBA graduate who turned to acting, Siddhu says he constantly absorbs the world around him, and that it seeps into his writing. A rant about taxes he did not initially understand became part of Tillu Square, and he follows marketing trends such as farm-to-table. He adds that at a café he simply wants coffee with regular milk and sugar, and prefers a proper menu card to scanning QR codes. Such everyday musings often find their way into his characters.

On box-office numbers, he says they matter, because a producer will invest in telling a story on a large scale only if the actor has box office potential. Money matters when realising a vision, he says, but he is drawn to stories and characters that are relevant.

He confirms that Tillu Cube is in development. The franchise will grow when the right stories come along, he says, adding that an idea for Tillu Cube already exists and the team now needs the right time to bring it to life.