Chennai, Aug 18 (IANS): Upcoming Telugu thriller "Anukshanam" is one of the most tiring films of actor Vishnu Manchu's career. He says the extremely tough character took a toll on him.

"This is probably one of the toughest characters I've played till now. It's also one of the most tiring films of my career. There are no breaks when you're working with RGV, and it's because he wants you to be in the character at all times. It left me mentally exhausted," Vishnu told IANS.

In Ram Gopal Varma's (RGV) directorial venture, Vishnu plays a serious police officer in hot pursuit of a psycho killer and he had to look older for the role.

"I had to look older like a police officer in his late 30s. So I cut my hair short, grew a moustache and lost my beard, which I've never done for any of my films. I also had to wear shirts that made me look older," said the 32-year-old.

Vishnu and RGV have teamed up for the second time in a row after "Rowdy".

"Ramu narrated the script of the film even before we shot 'Rowdy'. When I heard the story, I was totally zapped. This is the kind of script one needs guts to do," he said.

Not many were in favour of Vishnu's decision to do "Anukshanam".

"I've been successful with action-comedies and bigger commercial films. All of a sudden when I announced I'm doing a film with no songs and playing a character people are not used to see me in, everybody around me asked me not to do it," he added.

But Vishnu eventually did the film because he wanted to be "remembered as an actor."

"When a filmmaker like RGV tells me that I can do a fantastic job in a particular role in his film, I don't mind doing it. He's one of the finest filmmakers who can mould an actor and extract the best out of him," Manchu said.

Contrary to his subtle role in "Rowdy", Vishnu has a powerful role this time.

"In 'Rowdy', I had to underplay. My dad was the hero and I played a character that would hide in his shadow and come out only when needed. It was a very subtle performance. In this film, I'm under a lot of pressure throughout. It's a very powerful character," he said.

Also starring Navdeep, Tejaswi Madivada, Madhu Shalini and Revathy in important roles, "Anukshanam" is slated for a Sep 12 release.

Vishnu is currently busy shooting for Telugu family drama "Errabus", a remake of Tamil film "Manja Pai".