Come September 5 and Telugu star Nani will complete 12 years in showbiz. Quite fittingly, the date will mark the release of his 25th film, V.

Nani's debut film "Ashta Chamma", directed by Mohana Krishna Indraganti, released on September 5, 2008. Now after 12 years, the actor has collaborated with the filmmaker again on the upcoming thriller, "V", incidentally slotted for release on the same date this year.

On his journey of 12 years, Nani shared: "I always wanted to be a good actor and entertain the audience. It has been 12 years since 'Ashta Chamma' arrived at theatres. I am glad that 'V' gave me an opportunity to work with some wonderful people".

He added: "I feel immensely blessed that the Telugu audience have always seen me as one of their own. With each film, my responsibility goes up. I will continue to bring to the audience good films that entertain them."

On his association with Nani, director Mohana said: "From a guy who came into my office very differently wearing dark glasses because he had some eye infection to what Nani is now, it has been a fantabulous journey for him. I take some of the credit for launching talent -- I'll say, I've introduced a lot of good talents along with Nani. But what this man achieved after I introduced him, much of the credit goes to him."

"He worked very hard, he took risks, one of the things about Nani is he never hesitated to take risks -- he did unusual films that probably went against convention, he took chances, he fell down, he rose up, that's been his quality which I admired since day one. Our relationship hasn't changed much, we've been the same," the filmmaker said.

He continued: "We did a film in 2016, 'Gentleman' which was a big hit. He has matured as an actor. He has learnt a lot, and one thing is that he can adapt his style to different genres and roles. That adaptability is a unique feature and that's a sheer inborn talent. That is something you cannot teach, and that is what's taking him places."

"V" is Nani's 25th film. The Telugu action thriller will be streaming on Amazon Prime Video starting September 5.