Actor Teja Sajja on The Traitors Telugu and what makes a film truly pan-India

Telugu actor Teja Sajja has spent almost his entire life in front of the camera. From appearing as a child artist in Telugu films to becoming a leading man with hits such as Hanu-Man and Mirai, the actor has steadily carved out a space for himself beyond the conventional boundaries of Telugu cinema. Now, he is exploring a different medium altogether as the host of Prime Video's reality show, The Traitors Telugu.For Sajja, however, the shift from actor to host isn't really a departure from what he has always considered himself to be: an entertainer. In an interview with India Today Digital, the actor opened up about why the format of The Traitors appealed to him, the challenge of playing a mysterious host rather than his usual jovial self, and why he couldn't even offer contestants a reassuring smile during the shoot.Sajja also spoke about what he believes makes a film truly work across India, why regional audiences expect a certain finesse from films made outside their language, his journey from child artist to leading man, what he has had to unlearn as an actor and why he doesn't have the bandwidth to work on multiple films simultaneously. He also revealed that Zombie Reddy: Next Level will be his next release."I'm more of an entertainer than a lead actor"Having grown up in front of the camera, Sajja has now added anchoring to his repertoire. He doesn't see it as a big leap. "I always feel that I'm more of an entertainer. I consider myself an entertainer rather than a lead actor or any of those abbreviations," he said. "So, irrespective of the medium, platform or the size of the screen, if there is a new concept that I can take up and bring to our audiences, I'm always excited," he added.The new concept here, according to Sajja, is that Telugu audiences have so far seen only reality shows where the play is about the contestants. The Traitors Telugu is different. "This is the first time where it is about the game. We're making them play a game, and it is not about just the drama or chaos that happens when people are put in a place," he said. That focus on the game is also what has made the show a global hit. It has been made in more than 20 countries and more than 25 languages, and has made its way into pop culture in many of them. "What we understand from that is that the format of the game is actually what is exciting audiences more than the players, more than the host or more than anything else," he said.Bringing that format to an international platform like Prime Video was, for him, "a blessing". The opportunity came right after Mirai's release in 2025, and he said he was very excited."I wasn't being myself on The Traitors Telugu"The Hindi version of the show had a very serious tone with Karan Johar as the host, and Sajja was asked how he planned his own hosting style. He explained that reality hosts usually bring an extension of their real personality to the show, but The Traitors Telugu worked differently."Everything is reality, but the host character [The Traitors Telugu] is actually playing another character, like in films," he said. The host had to be serious and maintain decorum, and the makers had set guidelines for the role because the format has been such a hit in multiple countries and languages."I'm not being myself in the show. I'm just playing another character where I'm mysterious and serious. I'm bringing in that intrigue for the players as well as the audiences at the same time," he elaborated.He also had to keep the seriousness among the players and the energy of the room intact. "I'm usually a very jovial, fun person to talk to, but that was not who I was on the show."Working with contestants who are relatively known and unknown outside the industry made this harder. "That was the challenging part," he said. For 10 days, he couldn't make eye contact with any of them, and he couldn't offer even a small smile. "Everything is reality for them. They should feel the pressure. They should feel the mystery. They should feel the intrigue," he added.That meant staying composed even when contestants had tears in their eyes. "I couldn't pull their hand or say, 'It's okay, fine, just leave it.' I couldn't do any of those things."He hopes viewers will understand. "I hope nobody judges me for that [laughs]. I hope everybody understands that I was playing a character in a reality show," he said.Becoming a pan-Indian heroWith Hanu-Man, Mirai and Zombie Reddy, Sajja has positioned himself as a hero for the entire country, not just Telugu audiences. He was quick to say the trajectory wasn't charted. "I'm extremely happy about it. But let me tell you one thing very honestly: none of this is planned."He credits "God's blessings" and the audience's love for getting him here. "I'm just being the ambassador or face of the projects that I'm doing, but there are 100 other people who are actually making this happen," he shared.The credit, he said, belonged primarily to the makers and directors "who have given me this stature that I'm enjoying today", as well as the audiences.What makes a film truly pan-India?This year, several films billed as pan-India hits found their audiences in specific regions rather than across all markets. Asked what makes a film truly pan-India, Sajja said it all begins with relevance. "The idea of the film should be relevant across the nation. The emotion should be relevant across the nation," he began.He also believed that audiences who watch a lot of content in their own language expect more from films made elsewhere. "To appeal to those audiences, I personally feel that there is a certain amount of detail and finesse we have to bring into our films, which they don't usually see in the regional market, whichever market that is," he explained."I came into films and then formed my senses"Having worked with industry greats as a child artist and now headlining films, Sajja said there is no one takeaway from the journey. "As you said, I've started acting when I was a child. This is my lifestyle. This is the way I live. This is not just a profession for me," he began.Everything he is today, he said, came from the films he had done, the people he met and the life he has seen in films. "That is what actually made me as a human being. It's not that I found my senses and then came into films. It is vice versa. I came into films, and then I've actually formed my senses," he shared.So, what was one thing he had to unlearn in films? Actors once read their lines, prepared and then performed. Now, with subtler acting, he said, they know the scenes and lines but aren't meant to be overly prepared. "Usually, we used to know where we pause, where we located the exact moments. But right now, we have to unlearn all of it and then make it look very natural, like something happening around you," he explained."I want to bring something new to the audience"When choosing scripts or projects like The Traitors Telugu, Sajja's primary concern has always been novelty. "We have to bring something new to the audience — something that is clutter-breaking, something that at least the audience has never seen before on screen," he saidHe also felt responsible to viewers who invest their money and time. "It is our responsibility to make sure it is pleasing for them — visually pleasing as well as in terms of content. I don't just do it for the sake of finishing the job. Until the last moment, I put in all my effort in all the places possible to make it the best experience for the audiences," he said.It has been a year since Sajja was last seen on the big screen, and audiences will now see him on the small screen. When asked about his upcoming film, he said, "We've started working on Zombie Reddy Part 2. It's called Zombie Reddy: Next Level. That will be my next release."- Ends