Naga Chaitanya talks about life after marrying Sobhita Dhulipala; if they'll star in a film together

As the Telugu film Thandel starring Naga Chaitanya and Sai Pallavi gears up for release on February 7, the actors were in Chennai, along with renowned producer Allu Arvind to promote the film. Incidentally, Naga Chaitanya, fondly known as Chay, teams up with director Chandoo Modeti, for the third time with Thandel (a ship’s leader), post the success of Premam and Savyasachi. (Also Read: Naga Chaitanya urges fans from wife Sobhita Dhulipala's hometown to make Thandel a hit: 'I'll lose my honour at home')

This movie is vastly different from what both Chandoo and Chay have done in their careers and comes with high expectations. Thandel is also said to be the biggest movie of the actor, made on a budget of ₹80 crore by Arvind’s Geetha Arts. As Chaitanya got chatting with Hindustan Times, he spoke about how opportunities to work in films like Thandel are rare and he was excited about bringing this real-life story to the big screen.

The film is based on a true story of fishermen from Srikakulam who go to Gujarat to hire ships and fish off the coast near Pakistan. Some of these fishermen were arrested and imprisoned by Pakistan and this movie narrates that keeping the central theme as the love story between Chaitanya and Sai Pallavi. Most of the film has been shot in Visakhapatnam (Vizag), Srikakulam and Udupi, and Tamil actor Karunakaran has been roped in to play the ‘second hero in the film’ as producer Aravind stated.

Naga Chaitanya on married life

Chay and Sobhita Dhulipala tied the knot on December 4, 2024 and from what we can see on social media, their shooting schedules are keeping them busy. Ask Chay how married life was and he replied with a smile, “Married life is great! I’m totally enjoying it. It’s just been a couple of months. I think we both invest equally in work and away from work; so, we have that work-life balance very much intact. I think that’s one of the qualities we both really connected on also.”

Do Sobhita and him have a lot in common, other than being successful actors of course? “You know, we are both from Andhra. She is from Vizag and I love Vizag. Our roots are similar though we are not from the same cities and so, culturally, there was a lot of connect. And, obviously, the love for cinema, the love for this art form. I think both of us are just so curious about life, which got us going. Many conversations sort of started around that for us. And we love travelling as well,” explained Chay.

On larger-than-life films

With films like Pushpa and Salaar coming to the Telugu film industry, was Chay keen on doing such larger-than-life films? “I think Thandel is sort of an answer in some way. I believe that. And, I’m hoping that on February 7th, after you watch Thandel, you will get a different flavour and a texture from what I’ve been presenting of myself so far. I hope you get the answer to your question on February 7th,” the Manam actor said.

He also revealed that he has said no to scripts in the past and it was important to say no if you aren’t convinced about the script. Talking about success, Chay said, “I don't think you should take success or failure too seriously. Just live it, sort of look back, introspect on what worked or what didn’t work and keep moving forward. Every Friday is a new learning experience.”

Now, given that Chaitanya and Sobhita are both actors, who are also part of the Telugu film industry, do we ever see Chay and Sobhita in a film together? Chay smiled and signed off, “I don't know. If a script comes along our way, for sure!”