Easy to get typecast in film industry: Venu Thottempudi

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 IANS.

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.