Tall and handsome, Sonu Sood is one of the most promising young actors in B-town today. After his explosive performance in the Telugu blockbuster Arundhati, Sonu is looking forward to his first international film, City of Life. Here are excerpts from a conversation with the actor:

You got rave reviews for your performance in Arundhati? How did you get into the character of Pasupathi/Tantrik?
It was a very tough role to portray and I had to really work hard on it. My makeup sessions would last for four hours, from 3 am to 7 am in the morning. Physically too, I trained hard to build my body for the role.

In this entire process of preparing for the role, I slowly started understanding the character of Pasupati. It was immense hard work, but it paid off in the end.

Do you intend to build a steady career down South?
Of course, I will always concentrate on my career down South. South Indian cinema has taught me a lot, right from the basics of film making to the finer technicalities.

I started off as an actor with South Indian films. The South Indian audience loves me and I want to entertain them with some good performances. I intend to do at least two films down South every year.

Arundhati is being remade in Hindi. Is it going to be with the same cast and crew?
Yes, the same producer M Shyam Prasad Reddy is making it. The cast will be different but I am playing the same role in the remake. A few technicians from the original are also part of the film. Which are your next Telugu releases?
I have a movie releasing in September. It's an action flick directed by Puri Jagannath. Besides, I am also doing a movie with Shivaram, which will soon go on the floors.

You have done better in character roles than lead roles. How do you choose your roles?
I always wanted to portray strong roles. The role should excite me and more importantly, I should be able to connect with it. I select my roles instinctively, like when Ashutosh Gowarikar narrated to me the role of Sujamal, I knew it would click with audiences. It was the same with Lucky Singh in Singh is Kinng.