Winner is a milestone film in my career: Sai Dharam Tej

The fact that Sai Dharam Tej is mighty pleased about his new film Winner is written all over his face. “I feel Winner is my big ticket to enter into big league,” he enthuses, as he elaborates, “This is the first time I am working with a big director like Gopichand Malineni, actress Rakul Preet Singh and cinematographer Chota K Naidu.”
The movie also marks another first in his career.The actor plays a working professional. “It’s a departure from my earlier roles of playing a taxi driver or a college student. I play, Siddharth, who’s a creative head of a newspaper. So I had to look professional yet stylish. So we worked with designer Rajesh More to create that finesse in my look. But the character’s journey goes beyond that profession. He goes on to become a jockey and gets into horse racing. From then on, how Siddharth go on to win everybody’s heart is an amazing journey that you need to experience for yourself on the big screen.”
Although playing a jockey came with its share of challenges and even accidents, the actor admits to learning a very important life lesson after a fall. “When we were shooting the climax, I had a nasty fall. I was pretty sure that the horse was going to walk all over me. But I was surprised to see, how beautifully this beast took control of the accident. I saw the horse move away. This showed how sensitive and compassionate animals are and that was a big new lesson for me,” he says.
Winner is produced by Tagore Madhu and Nallamalapu Bujji on Sri Lakshmi Narasimha Productions, Leo Productions.