Adivi Sesh, who played Major Sandeep Unnikrishnan in the blockbuster film ‘Major’, along with director Sashi Kiran Tikka and lead actress Saiee Manjrekar met Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, who complimented the cast and crew on the film’s success.

“‘Major’ isn’t just a movie; it’s a cultural phenomenon. Major Sandeep Unnikrishnan laid down his life fighting for the country in the 26/11 Mumbai attacks, and the team should be appreciated for how they depicted his life and valour,” the Chief Minister remarked

Along with box office success, ‘Major’ has received positive feedback from people from all walks of life.

The film premiered on June 3 and has been receiving critical acclaim ever since. Prakash Raj, Revathi, Shobhita, and others have important roles in the movie.

Before June 3, popular Telugu actor Adivi Sesh was an unknown face to the pan-India audience while cinegoers were more interested in focusing on Akshay Kumar’s ‘Samrat Prithviraj’ and Kamal Hassan’s ‘Vikram’.

Now, Adivi Sesh is ruling the hearts of many as his film ‘Major’ takes over the box office.

Apparently, the film has earned Rs 42.5 crore within five days of its release in Hindi.

In conversation with IANS, Adivi, who is brimming with the running success of ‘Major’ shares his feeling.

He told IANS: “It was a strange feeling when the film was released in Hindi because that section of our audience did not know me as an actor, I was a new chap. The film was gaining momentum and by now it is a blockbuster hit in Telugu and Tamil. But for the Hindi audience, I was the underdog, somewhere trying to find a room for myself.

“But I think the audience has given me a place in their heart. It is the fire, the passion and the inspirational story of Major Sandeep Unnikrishnan that is getting discovered by the audience and growing slowly. Now, theatre owners are increasing the number of shows etc. I am happy to see the celebration of the spirit of ‘Major’.”

Since the actor tagged himself as a ‘goldfish’ on the week when his film was released alongside two megastars, Akshay Kumar and Kamal Hassan for ‘Samrat Prithviraj’ and ‘Vikram’, as they were the ‘big fish’ of the tank, he was asked if the success of ‘Major’ turned his fish into a shark?

Sesh quipped, “Well, I am not sure of being the shark but I can say that the goldfish is shining!”

The story of the film revolves around the life journey of Indian Army officer Major Sandeep Unnikrishnan who was martyred during the 2008 Mumbai attacks.

The film was also written by Adivi Sesh, directed by Sashi Kiran Tikka, and produced by Sony Pictures International Productions, Mahesh Babu.

The filmmakers held multiple screenings in different cities for special groups of audiences.

While the instant reaction of the audience helped the makers to build confidence about the film, Adivi recalled one of the very special moments from one of the first screenings.

“It was two days before the release of the film when we kept a screening in Bangalore, where Uncle and Amma (referring to the parents of Major Sandeep Unnikrishnan) came to watch the film for the first time. Amma came to me and said, ‘I wore this saree and this watch 23 years ago on the day of my Sandeep’s graduation. Today, I am wearing the same saree for your screening of my son…’. She had tears in her eyes and I hugged her tight, it was so emotional for me.”

“Our whole intention was to touch people’s hearts really, box office collection wasn’t our focus,” he signed off.

Adivi Sesh-starrer ‘Major’ is on the verge of hitting a significant box office milestone in the US, while also doing well in India.

Adivi Sesh, who plays the late Major Sandeep Unnikrishnan in the film, breaks down in tears as he talks about his transformation for the part.

Adivi shared a video on his social media on Tuesday, demonstrating what ‘Major’ means to him as an actor and as a person.

“After doing more research, I learned about Sandeep’s empathy, which I adapted after playing his role in this film. His entire life revolved around his concern for others,” Adivi explained.

“Did I capture the spirit of Major Sandeep? I ponder. Don’t come up!! I’ll take care of it. Only one thing is reflected in Sandeep’s final words. Those words weren’t made on the spur of the moment; they were a window into how he viewed life.”

“He noticed less fortunate people or animals being treated with kindness ahead of him. Everything else, including how he treated non-officers, came down to one thing. His compassion is admirable,” Adivi Sesh elaborated.

Adivi concludes his video on an emotional note, “It’s not about how I transformed to become Major Sandeep, it’s about how Major Sandeep transformed me”.

Hero Adivi Sesh has been winning lots of praises for his portrayal of 26/11 Major Sandeep Unnikrishnan in the film Major which opened to huge collections on day one. The film hold success meet today in presence of the core team.

Sashi Kiran Tikka said, “Major is Sesh’s dream project and I knew it 12 years back. When he asked me to direct, I didn’t respond, since I knew much about him. When I started seeing his life, I had concluded of narrating his story. We started recruiting our team. This big film came too early for me. I thank Sesh for choosing me for this project. We had hours of sessions with uncle and aunt (Major’s parents). We had different feelings and emotions during the interaction sessions. I think that is what reflecting back for you people on screen.”

Adivi Sesh said, “There is a rule in the industry. If your phone rings continuously, after morning show, the cinema is a blockbuster. If we get messages, instead phone calls, saying, heard good things about the movie, it means the movie will not work out. My phone got freeze 5 times. This is 10 times bigger than any film that I’ve done so far. I’m in no mood to relax. I want to do more so that it will have wider reach. Some told me that, Major is five times bigger than my last movie Yevaru, in terms of first day collections.

We can’t quantify the emotion. The emotion is getting bigger now. When we understand Major’s spirit, we don’t stop until we reach our goal. I’m missing three people here- Major’s parents, my guru Abburi Ravi, my stylist Rekha. We’ve been getting lots messages that many youngsters are keen to join army, after watching Major. We haven’t yet figured out the detailing. Here is the Major promise, we will lend our support to the aspirants of CDS and NDA. We initially start with 10 people and it may reach 1 Cr. This movement will be launched in the name of Major Sandeep Unnikrishnan. I’ve been receiving so much love, so I too want to dedicate this movie to my parents.”

South Indian films like Pushpa: The Rise, RRR and KGF: Chapter 2 have performed exceptionally well in the North Indian market. RRR and KGF: Chapter 2 swept up the summer across the country. Several Bollywood biggies fell flat and the Hindi filmmakers are puzzled now. One more South film Major is all set for a pan-Indian release this Friday. The film’s special screenings in North received a tremendous response. Now everyone is focused on how the film will fare at the North Indian box-office.

The advance sales for Major across the Telugu states are very good. The team of Major planned an extensive set of promotions which worked well and generated enough buzz on the film. Trade analysts predict that Major will open with decent footfalls in North India too. Major is the life story of Major Sandeep Unnikrishnan and Adivi Sesh reprises his role. Saiee Manjrekar, Shobita Dhulipala, Prakash Raj, Revathi and Murali Sharma played other prominent roles in this patriotic attempt.

Adivi Sesh took his time and carved out Major, the biopic of Major Sandeep Unnikrishnan. The film is screened in selected cities ahead of its release and the response has been unanimous. The makers planned special premieres across the country and the most of the shows are sold out or fast filling. The distributors have been requesting the makers to screen more shows considering the demand and the response from the early special screenings. Major is expected to open with a bang all over.

The promotional activities and the trailer caught everyone’s attention. Everyone is quite curious to watch the film after the early screenings. Major is the only film that will have paid premieres across the nation. The film will hit the screens on June 3rd in Telugu, Hindi and Malayalam languages. The team of Major is overwhelmed with the response from the common audience. Sashikiran Tikka directed Major and Adivi Sesh, Saiee Manjrekar played the lead roles. The strategy of screening the film helped Major bigtime.

Adivi Sesh and the ‘Major’ team are working around the clock publicising their biographical movie. As the release day for ‘Major’ is coming closer, the team has arranged for a grand pre-release event in Vishakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh.

The pre-release event will take place on Sunday, after the premiere of ‘Major’, at 4 p.m. at Vizag’s Sangam Sarath theatre.

This is one of the unique ways of promotions ‘Major’ team has adapted, while it is also the first time in the history of Indian cinema that a movie is being premiered even before its pre-release event.

“As we feel that Major Sandeep Unnikrishnan’s story needs to reach every Indian, we have been looking for ways of promotion. His story is bigger than life, and hence we have also announced the lowest ticket prices as well”, one of the members of ‘Major’ stated.

Directed by Sashi Kiran Tikka, the movie has Adivi Sesh, Saiee Manjrekar, Prakash Raj, Revathi, and Sobitha Dhulipala in key roles.

‘Major’ will hit the screens on June 3.

Adivi Sesh is busy promoting his next film titled Major and the film will release on Friday in Telugu, Hindi and Malayalam languages. Special premieres are planned and screened. The response for the premieres is unanimous. Major is heading for a clash with Kamal Haasan’s Vikram and Akshay Kumar’s Samrat Prithviraj. Responding about the clash, Adivi Sesh revealed that he is a huge fan of Kamal Haasan. He also said that he will watch Vikram on the release day.

“I grew up listening to the songs from Akshay Kumar’s films. I am a huge fan of Kamal sir and I am going to watch Vikram right on day one. All the three films are different and there would be no competition. Everyone has their own charm and space. I have received so much love from the audience over these years. I am sure Major will fare well irrespective of the big releases” told Adivi Sesh. Major is directed by Sashi Kiran Tikka and the film has Adivi Sesh, Saiee Manjrekar, Prakash Raj, Revathi, Murali Sharma and Shobita Dhulipala in the lead roles.