After making a strong place for himself down South, Naga Chaitanya entered Hindi films with Aamir Khan co-starrer Laal Singh Chaddha in 2022. The film, however, was met with a lukewarm response and since then, the actor hasn’t signed any other Hindi film yet. Ask him why and he says, “There is no specific reason. Definitely, my eyes are open. It’s just after that film, I’ve been working on projects here and they’ve taken a lot of my time and effort. So, I’m looking forward to an opportunity in Hindi and all my energies are out there to do something special over there again.”
Was the underwhelming response to the film that pushed him towards being more cautious with his choices in Hindi? “Not really, because I really enjoyed myself shooting for that film. I learned so much and the people there were so warm and took such good care of me. So the experience has been nothing short of amazing. As for how the film fares in the box office, I think we’re mature enough to understand that some films have ups and downs, but that does not stop us from our pursuit. So, the success has not changed my mindset in any way,” he responds.
Elaborating on the reason behind his absence from Hindi films, Naga Chaitanya adds, “Both Thandel (2025) and Vrushakarma are extremely complex films. I understood how complex Vrushakarma is only after we started shooting the film, because almost 80 percent of the film revolves around VFX. And when you work with such kinds of stories, the pipeline of work gets very complex. There’s a lot of pre-production that we have to do. It’s just the stories that are demanding this time, I am not strategizing or anything like that. I’m just trying to stay and give my 100 percent to the script I’m doing at that point of time. Of course, some films we can make faster, some films take time, and I’m going through those scripts right now. But I have nothing to complain about, because at the end of the day, it’s the success that matters the most. It’s not about how many films you did that year or not.”
So, does he feel now is a better time for him to make his return to Bollywood, considering the prevalence of crossovers of talents between Hindi and South? “It’s not about an apt time for me as at the end of the day, it is about the script. I’m an actor at heart and it’s about what kind of characters and roles I get. Language is not a barrier anymore, the audience is exposed to all kinds of films from various languages. So for me, it’s more about the character I get that’s going to really drive me for doing a project and I would equally apply that to any language. I’m open to doing a Hindi film, but it’s something that has to motivate me. It has to be fresh where I should be able to work with filmmakers I really love. It’s the relationship, it’s the journey that’s more important for me than anything else. It’s the journey that teaches you so much, so I’m looking out for all this anywhere. It’s not just now, I’ve always been open and always will be open,” he says.
