India, Oct. 13 -- If you have seen the trailer of Rahul Sankrityan's Ranabaali, there's a character who must have made an impression on you right when he shoved a child alive into a cauldron. That's Mumbai-based British-born actor Benedict Garrett playing a character that he describes as cruel and nasty. The film explores how a famine caused by colonial rule in 19th-century India led to starvation in Andhra Pradesh. Talking to Hindustan Times, the actor explains his experience on a Tollywood film set, working with Vijay Deverakonda after missing a chance earlier, and more. Excerpts.

Benedict recalls how he was supposed to star in a film with Deverakonda even before Pawan Kalyan's Hari Hara Veera Mallu, his first Telugu film. But it fell ...