Honoured to receive the National Award. I want to thank the jury, the ministry, the Government of India, for this recognition. This award is not only a personal milestone, but belongs to all people who have supported and cherished our cinema. Thank you, Sukumar garu. You are the reason behind my achievement.
As my imagination version, RAAKA should be written as the kind of character Indian cinema has never dared to create in its fullest form. Not just a hero, not just a beast, not just a king, and not just a larger-than-life star character, but the final shape a man takes when love, pain, sacrifice, rage, faith, and destiny all burn together until he is no longer living as a person, but arrives as an era. That is why this role has such extraordinary potential.
If this character is truly built to hold the full force of Allu Arjun’s 23-year evolution as a performer, then Raaka cannot be written as a one-note mass lead. He has to carry animal fire, wounded silence, spiritual heaviness, unbearable grief, royal authority, terrifying rage, emotional fragility, seductive charisma, physical ferocity, and above all that rare screen quality only a few actors possess “the sense that the frame itself becomes too small when they fully arrive” 🛐🔥.
The greatest version of Raaka must begin before the story even begins. His absence should already have weight. The world should speak of him the way ancient civilizations speak of prophecy, eclipse, flood, ruin, or judgement. Some must believe he is a myth. Some must think he is punishment. Some must think he is a dead king whose memory refused to die. Some must think he is a beast wearing the remains of a man. But whenever his name is spoken, it should never be casual, because Raaka is not simply a person the world meets. He is a presence the world survives. He should not be introduced like a star entering a frame. He should be introduced like consequence returning for everything the world failed to protect.
To become truly legendary, Raaka must first be devastatingly human. Once, he was not Raaka. Once, he was a son, a lover, a protector, a commander, a prince, a sacred guardian, or a man who still had warmth in his hands and laughter in his spirit. He must be someone who believed courage, truth, loyalty, and strength were enough to save what he loved. He loved his people like a son loves his motherland. He loved one woman as if the universe had chosen only one soul worthy of seeing him completely. He loved duty. He loved honour. He loved life. And because he loved so deeply, he must lose more deeply than any ordinary man should be forced to lose.
The world around him should not collapse through simple betrayal or ordinary war alone, but through something far older, darker, and more primordial a force that does not just destroy kingdoms, but corrodes meaning itself, blackens faith, hollows courage, and turns memory, law, and order into ash.
Temples may remain standing, but the gods should feel absent. Armies may remain alive, but bravery should feel broken. People may still breathe, but hope should begin to die. And Raaka, in his human form, must fight this with everything he has and still fail. Not a small defeat. Not a setback. A spiritual annihilation. He must stand in the ruins of everything he swore to protect and realize the most heartbreaking truth a hero can ever know: the man he is will never be enough to save this world.
“Pushpa made you cheer. RAAKA will make you shiver” 💯🔥🔥
@alluarjun !! #AA22 !! @Atlee_dir !! @sunpictures
Wishing my hero @alluarjun sir a very happy birthday 🤗❤️
Super excited about the #AA23#LK7 journey ahead with you sir ❤️
Can’t wait to go on floors and make it an unforgettable one for both of us 🔥