Ramcharan Teja "didn't want to celebrate" his birthday this year

On Wednesday (27 March 2013) when Telugu cinema’s biggest star Ramcharan Teja turned 28, his wife Upasana Kamineni who owns the Apollo chain of hospitals, organized a surprise birthday party in Dubai. Ram had no choice but to follow his wife blindly. Speaking from Dubai the Zanjeer star says, “I was in no mood to celebrate this birthday after what has happened with Mr Sanjay Dutt (the Supreme Court verdict). But my father (the stalwart actor Chiranjeevi) told me to get going. And my wife arranged everything. I followed her blindfolded and quietly. It is always better not to question the lady, isn’t it?” Ram along with 25 close friends landed in Dubai on Tuesday evening to bring in his birthday. Among the 25 friends a few were from the Telugu film fraternity. Rana Daggubati was there. Says Ramcharan affectionately, “Rana’s grandfather and my grandfather are friends. Rana and I have been friends for years. We even studied together.” Said the celebratory superstar, “We were at a friend’s villa overlooking the beach and it was magical. Just my wife and close friends. Nothing noisy. I am not a very wild partying whooping-it-up kind of guy. It was a sit-in dinner. Actually, this birthday was special because it was my first birthday after marriage. In June Upasana and I’d be married for a full year. We didn’t even realize how time went by.” No plans of immediate parenthood for the couple. “We aren’t planning a baby for at least two more years. We’re both focusing on our caeers. I’ve my Hindi debut to look forward to.” Tragically Zanjeer (entitled Toofan in Telugu) has got itself into a legal bind with the writer Salim Khan and Javed Akhtar who wrote the original Zanjeer. Not allowing a cloud to colour his birthday Ramcharan says, “It’s unfortunate that there’s this problem. I am concerned for my producer Amit Mehra and my director Apoorva Lakhia. But I am focusing entirely on doing my best for the film. This Zanjeer is an entirely different entity from the original. Apoorva Lakhia has completely re-imagined the theme. It has a very contemporary look and feel to it.”