Dino Morea marked his Telugu debut opposite Akhil Akkineni in Agent. Putting on the avatar of a mean, badass character, the actor plays the role of The God in the spy-thriller which released on April 28.

In an exclusive interview with PeepingMoon, Dino spoke about the emergence of pan-India cinema, learning a new language for Agent and the current hottest trend of spy-thrillers. The actor further opened up about shedding his chocolate boy image and transforming into an action hero. 

Excerpts from the interview: 

Agent is your first Telugu film. How difficult was it for you to adapt to the new language and a new style of filmmaking?

I’m an actor and language cannot be a barrier to me. At the end of the day, you have to communicate through your performance. Yes, I had to work double hard to get the language and pronunciation right. While it was dubbed, I had to at least get the lip sync correct. As long as you emote correctly, the language doesn’t bother you.

The style of filmmaking is more or less similar because the technicians are the same, and the background score etc is also similar. The only difference is different cities and different sets. More or less everyone is doing the same thing. Yes, the audience is different and the director wanted me to act in a certain way. You might feel it is a little loud but that's what the audience there demands.

Is the spy thriller trend here to stay?

I don’t think this is a trend. Pathaan was similar to Agent in terms of the basic story about R&AW agents. I don’t know whether this is a trend but it is an interesting genre. There's no harm if the audience enjoys a particular style and goes home happy.

What's your take on the current wave of pan-India cinema?

It is amazing, and we need to release movies as Indian films and not Hindi, Telugu etc. If you look at it, Telugu films are being dubbed in Hindi and are watched widely. If you are telling a good story, it will transcend. Language shouldn’t be a barrier.

A section of people is saying Hindi film actors are going to the South because our films aren't working...

It's utter nonsense, Nobody is moving anywhere. It is just that we're trying to make better Indian films. While we are shooting in the South, we're working in the Hindi film fraternity too. Many South stars are now coming to Mumbai for work. 

You broke the image of a chocolate boy by transforming into an action hero. Was it a conscious decision or you went with the flow?

I always wanted to be an action hero when I was cast in romantic films. I believe I have a flair for action because of my physicality. People have started taking me seriously as an action hero after The Empire. People are looking at me differently because back then, they only saw me as a sweet neighbourhood kid. Now, the sweet romantic hero has turned into a bit of an evil nutcase and people are loving it. It is a good time to be evil and bask in the appreciation for the moment and then maybe go back to being a romantic hero.

Can we call it Dino Morea 2.0?

Yes, definitely. Dino 2.0 is an upgraded and better version.