The actress calls 'Madras Talkies' her home; has impressed the veteran filmmaker with her grasp on the Tamil language and performance in their last outing together
Sanyukta Iyer (MUMBAI MIRROR; May 10, 2017)

Six-time National Award winning-filmmaker Mani Ratnam’s last release, Kaatru Veliyidai, was lauded as a “poetic romance” and “cinematic spectacle”. It got the thumbs up from critics for the crackling chemistry between the leads, Bollywood actress Aditi Rao Hydari and South star Karthi. While many praised the 30-year-old actress’s beauty and her stellar turn as a doctor in the film, writer-director Mani Ratnam, praised her beauty and grace and admitted that he was impressed with the way she had performed in Tamil, an alien language. He was also quick to reveal that he would like to work with Aditi again soon.

Now, Mirror has learnt that the two will be teaming up again after Aditi wraps up Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s period-romance, Padmavati, in which she will be seen as Ranveer Singh aka Alauddin Khilji’s wife. A script for the yet-untitled romance-drama has been locked and prep is underway. Buzz is, Aditi has given her nod to the film.

Aditi, who made her acting debut with the Malayalam film, Prajapathi, and followed it up with the Tamil film, Sringaram, asserts that Madras Talkies (Mani and wife Suhasini Ratnam’s production company) feels like her home now. She reveals that she’s been spending a lot more time Chennai too.

“I am dying to work with Mani sir again!” she exclaims, speaking to Mirror from Chennai, where she is ringing in actress and former CBFC chairperson, Leela Samson’s 66th birthday. Leela, who she fondly calls ‘akka’ has been her Bharatanatyam guru for over two decades.

Aditi points out that the veteran filmmaker nurtured her in a challenging environment, made her feel safe and secure. “His sets are as beautiful as he is and there is a lot of last-minute improvisation. When I told him I didn’t know the language, he smiled and assured me that this was his problem not mine. He taught me the lines in Tamil too,” she reminisces, pointing out that she could write a book on the genius filmmaker and his story-telling techniques. “He will see a cliff and suddenly decide to film there. He’ll push you, nudge you, until you think you’re going to die, but eventually you know that he will be there to catch you,” she beams.

Aditi who had prepped extensively for Kaatru Veliyidai and could narrate her lines in Tamil in freezing cold and while deep in sleep, says that she’d happily go through the ordeal again. “Many tell me that doing a Mani Ratnam film is a good career move. For me, it’s been a life-changing move, the fulfilment of a childhood dream,” she signs off.