Renu Desai reveals it was Pawan Kalyan who convinced her to act in 'Johnny'

Renu Desai, who co-starred along with her ex-husband Pawan Kalyan in his debut directorial ‘Johnny’ revealed that it was him who convinced her to act in the film.
Sharing an old picture from behind-the-scenes of the film for which she worked on production design too, Renu wrote, “I was initially only the production designer for Johnny and just 2 weeks before shoot, I was casted as the heroine,” adding, “My first reaction was a strict No for acting to Kalyan garu because i was not interested in acting, as my heart lay in the behind the camera technical stuff.And also, it would have been a crazy task to be the heroine and the production designer at the age of 21 only.” (sic)
However, she reveals, it was not long before Pawan Kalyan convinced her to take up the role. But, she continued to work on production design of the film too. She wrote, “But Kalyan garu convinced me eventually and I ended up working almost 16-17 hours everyday for more than 7 months. This one experience made me super strong and resilient emotionally. I used to come to the set as a Production designer, check everything is in order and then go to the make up room to become the heroine.” (sic)
‘Johnny’, which released in 2003 bombed at the box-office when it released but has through the years achieved cult status with fans. Pawan Kalyan had not just directed the film, but also written the story and choreographed for the film. ‘Johnny’, which featured music by Ramana Gogula, was even screened at the International Indian Film Festival of India.