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From watching film shoots unfold in Ameerpet as a wide-eyed schoolboy to sharing screen space with Dulquer Salmaan , Srinath Maganti has been anything but conventional. A proud Hyderabadi, the actor has gradually made his mark in Telugu cinema , from his breakout in Bilalpur Police Station to the acclaimed Lucky Bhaskar and the high-profile Animal. In a candid chat with Hyderabad Times, Srinath opens up about his acting roots, confronting bias in the industry, and why he’s not afraid to be boxed into a type.

‘I told my dad I wanted to act; his silence lasted for days’
Born and raised in Hyderabad, Srinath’s love for cinema began long before he ever stepped onto a film set. “I’ve spent most of my life in Ameerpet. This city isn’t just where I live, it’s home. I still remember watching the rains from the Ameerpet Observatory. It was there that I saw my first film shoot where Srihari sir was on set. The second time, it was Nagarjuna sir during Azad. That’s when something clicked.”
Though he pursued engineering and went on to start his own manufacturing business, the desire to act never faded. “Once the business was stable, I told my dad I wanted to act. He just asked, ‘YouTube, serials, or cinema?’ I said, ‘Cinema or nothing.’ What followed was three days of silence at home. Eventually, he introduced me to acting coach Satyanand, the same teacher who trained Mahesh Babu, Prabhas, and Ravi Teja, which marked the formal beginning of my journey into cinema,” he recalls.

‘A 9000-km train journey led me to HIT’
Before he entered the HIT universe , Srinath teamed up with director Sailesh Kolanu for a short film titled Uniki: a bold, experimental project shot entirely on trains across India. “We covered 9,000 kilometers in 18 days, from Kanyakumari to Dharamshala. We slept on platforms, showered in train bathrooms, and kept moving. I even had a fall in Varanasi and got eight stitches. But it was raw, real, and unforgettable.”
That project deepened his creative bond with Sailesh, eventually leading to roles in HIT 1 and HIT 2. “Back then, it wasn’t about money or scale. We just wanted to make something honest. And that journey taught me what it means to truly commit to a role,” he says.

‘Not every challenge on set is creative’
Srinath’s entry into Sandeep Reddy Vanga ’s Animal, where he played the role of Rashmika Mandanna ’s brother, came as a surprise, even to him. But while the film gave him the opportunity to be part of a pan-India project, his time on set also brought an unexpected moment of tension. “One of the actors, who played a friend of Ranbir Kapoor in the film, seemed to take issue with the prominence of my role. We had just landed in Mumbai, and I’d seen his hoardings all across the city. Maybe that played into it. Out of nowhere, he came up to me and said, ‘Tu kaun hai? Same caste as Vanga? Who’s your manager?’ I didn’t realise Sandeep sir was standing behind us. I simply replied, ‘Let me do my job,’ and walked away. Sandeep sir looked at me and said, ‘Good answer.’”
Srinath Maganti:
“DQ sir’s dedication during Lucky Bhaskar taught me so much. He’d change outfits four or five times on set without ever stepping into the vanity, no fuss, just focus. That level of professionalism really inspired me”

“Typecasting doesn’t scare me. Our industry is shifting. People are getting chances to break out of the boxes. Look at Vijay Deverakonda . He began as a background artiste. Or Priyadarshi, who started with comic roles and now headlines films. Anything is possible, and I leave it to the uncertainty”

– Divya Shree