Chiru's passion made me cast him repeatedly: Chaitanya KM

Filmmaker Chaitanya KM

and Chiranjeevi Sarja have worked together in not one, but four films, namely

Aatagara

,

Aake

, Amma I Love you and

Aadya

. The filmmaker says:
"I first worked with him for an ad film, which was shot just before the release of his movie debut. The chance to collaborate again came much later, when we were making Aatagara and Yogish Dwarakish suggested we cast him. I was unsure if he would accept the offer, as he had an action hero image at the time. But he readily agreed to be a part of the film. I'd told him that there would acting workshops before the actual shoot. He had only one request - that I teach him his lines a day earlier. On the first day, I'd forgotten to do so and Meghana Raj shone bright at the workshop. He reprimanded me for not teaching him his lines earlier, but he took a liking to the workshops and insisted on them for all our films. He was very committed, passionate and driven, which is what made me cast him repeatedly. Off screen, though, he was a brat and used to be extremely jovial. He was the sort of person who one would take a liking to with just one meeting. He was a good actor to direct onscreen and an even better friend off it.