Sathyaraj: "I will be called Dora now"

'Dora', a horror-comedy directed by Dharani Dharan, is the dubbed version of 'Jackson Durai'. The film will hit the screens on July 1. Also starring Sibiraj and Rajendran, it has Bindhu Madhavi in the role of the female lead. The story takes place in a village which is haunted by two ghosts.The cop Sibiraj tries to solve a case and attempts to chase away the ghosts played by Sathyaraj and Rajendran. It is set in 1940s.

Days before the film's release, 'Katappa' Sathyaraj speaks on the film. Read on..

'Dora is a period horror'

This is a period horror flick.  It's a story that involves a British devil named Jackson and a South Indian devil named Dora.  I am playing the latter," says Sathyaraj, adding that horror-comedy is a trend that is in currency across film industries.  

'Nobody knows a devil's mannerisms'

Since 'Katappa' Sathyaraj will be seen in such a role for the first time, those who have seen him in soft-core roles in films like' Mirchi' (Prabhas' father), 'Nenu Sailaja' (Keerthy Suresh's father) and 'Brahmotsavam' (Mahesh Babu's father) are in for some surprise. Saying that he acted in his instinctive style, Sathyaraj says, “Nobody knows how spirits are like. There are no references while playing a ghost's role. I acted in my own way. I sincerely followed my director's instructions.”    

'I will be called Dora too'

After 'Baahubali', Sathyaraj has been called Katappa after the character he played in the magnum opus. "Even children call me by that name. The credit goes to Rajamouli for giving me such a character. An actor gets to play such a character only once in a lifetime. After 'Dora', I am confident that people will call me 'Dora' as well," says Sathyaraj, who has played a hero's role in about 100 films and as a villain's role in about 75 films.

The actor is proud that writers/directors are penning characters keeping him in mind. "I am proud of this," he says, beaming a smile.

Proud father Sathyaraj

Sathyaraj is proud and happy about his son Sibiraj, who is playing a cop here. "Years ago, my son debuted with the remake of 'Student No. 1' in Tamil. He has a good fan following in Tamil Nadu. We have acted together in the past as well. I am hoping that he will be liked by the Telugu audience, too," he says.

Getting bigger and bigger

To the billion dollar question 'Why did Katappa kill Baahubali?', Sathyaraj wittily says - 'Because Rajamouli asked me to.'

In Ram's film with director Santosh Srinivas of 'Kandireega' fame, Sathyaraj will be seen playing Ram's father. "The father-son relationship is being portrayed in a never-seen-before way in this flick," he says.