On Shruti Haasan’s birthday last month, the makers of Salaar revealed that she has been roped in as the leading lady of the Prabhas-starrer. Having recently wrapped up the first schedule in Hyderabad, the actor has joined the ever-growing list of Prabhas’s admirers. “I have been working in Telugu cinema for so many years, but never had the opportunity of working with Prabhas. He is the warmest co-star I have had. People often say that so-and-so is down-to-earth; it’s a loosely used term. But in his case, it is absolutely true. When I was working with him, there was a positive energy on the set,” says Haasan.

The Prashanth Neel-directed film, touted as a “pan-India project”, will be released in Hindi as well. True to the director’s style, the movie will be a high-octane action thriller that sees the South superstar play a violent character.

Ask Haasan if she will be matching Prabhas, punch for punch, and she says, “I don’t have action scenes in Salaar. I think women don’t get the chance to explore action often. I have been fortunate to try my hand at it in Luck [2009], and more recently in Krack. I love doing stunts, but they cannot be forced into the narrative.”