Allu Arjun, the leader of the pack

Six pack abs are a dime a dozen in Telugu cinema, and Allu Arjun has them. But while his contemporaries end up like cedar wood in their pursuit of gladiator bodies, Arjun remains supple as a reed.

And for those who believe that tough guys can’t dance, his fans swear that Arjun can make you forget MJ.

Son of producer Allu Aravind and nephew of Chiranjeevi, Arjun has come a long way from the skinny teenager we saw in his debut film ‘Gangotri’ in 2003. “Boy, has it taken some hard work,” he says. For his latest flick, ‘Badrinath’, in which he plays a Samurai-like fighter, Arjun dropped out of the party circuit for months, learnt swordsmanship in Vietnam and honed his body in the gym for three hours a day.

But more than his physique, Arjun is famous for his breathtaking dance moves.

“I didn’t learn dancing the traditional way. I train with my choreographer a month ahead of a shoot,” he says. In his eight-year career, Arjun has toted up hits such as ‘Arya’, ‘Arya-2’, ‘Desamuduru’ and ‘Vedam’. In almost all of them, he is a nimble mover. “I personally like my dance in Arya-2 and of course, ‘Badrinath’,” says the Stylish Star, as he is called by his fans.

Few in the north are aware that ‘Ringa ringa’, the current rage in Bollywood, was made popular by Arjun’s agility in ‘Arya-2’.

This 27-year-old, however, has more to him than meets the eye. Since his first film, he has evolved into a mature actor. His performance as a cable guy aspiring to make it big in ‘Vedam’ won him critical acclaim. “I will do such roles once in a while,” says Arjun, who has set his sights on becoming a “mass hero” a la his uncle Chiranjeevi.

Recently married, there’s a perceptible change in his bearing. But poke him a bit, and his humorous self comes forth. ‘Badrinath’ is the first film he has done since he tied the knot with Sneha Reddy. “My wife didn’t like the long locks-look for the film. She wondered if it would click. But once she saw the movie, he said it was good indeed,” he says, sharing that it was the first compliment he got from his wife.