The first Telugu film Rasha Thadani ever watched was Baahubali, when she was around 11. She may not have understood everything happening on screen, but she remembers being fascinated by the sheer scale of it.

“Every Telugu film I saw felt like stepping into a different world,” she recalls. Years later, she has stepped into that world herself, making her Telugu debut as the leading lady in Ajay Bhupathi’s Srinivasa Mangapuram. In a candid conversation with Hyderabad Times, Thadani opens up about her love for all things Telugu, finding her footing in a new industry and the lessons she took away from the experience.

For Thadani, making her Telugu debut appears to have been as much about discovering a new place as it was about making a film. “I keep telling everyone it felt like I was on vacation. I came here, enjoyed incredible food, and got to shoot a film which, for me, is the best thing ever,” she says. The experience also fulfilled a wish she had carried since her childhood.

“I’ve wanted to work in Telugu cinema ever since I started watching its films,” she says. Her time in Hyderabad included shooting for around two to three weeks, while much of the film was shot on real locations. “Ajay sir strongly believes in filming in live locations rather than on studio sets, so even my character’s house was an actual location. In fact, I don’t think we used a green screen for even a single shot.”

I’ve wanted to work in Telugu cinema ever since I started watching its films. The first Telugu movie I watched was Baahubali when I was around 11. At the time, I didn’t understand everything, but I was completely fascinated by it

Adapting to a new language was one of the more obvious challenges of the experience, but Thadani says she enjoyed immersing herself in Telugu culture.

“You can see it reflected in everything from the way people speak to the food they eat. One of my favourite memories from the shoot was starting every day with karam masala dosa. There were even days when I’d have it for breakfast, lunch, and dinner!”, she says with a laugh.

On the language front, Bhupathi made the process easier by assigning an assistant director to help her understand every scene and dialogue. More importantly, he encouraged her not to get hung up on linguistic perfection. “I remember him telling me ‘It’s okay if a word or two isn’t perfect. We don’t expect you to master the language overnight. As long as you’re emotionally connected to the scene, that’s what matters.’ By the end of the shoot, I’d picked up quite a few Telugu words. I can now understand conversations fairly well, though I’m still working on speaking the language fluently.”

Thadani also found a sense of camaraderie with Jayakrishna, who, like her, was making his debut. Describing him as “one of the most hardworking and down-to-earth people” she says, “This was my first Telugu film and his first film, so everything was a new experience for both of us. What made our collaboration work so well was that we both approached the film with the mindset of learners. We were constantly learning, growing, and helping each other along the way,” she shares.

Away from cinema, Thadani’s strongest sense of belonging appears to come from an entirely different world: the forest. “I haven’t been able to visit the forest in almost a year because I’ve been so busy, and honestly, it’s been heartbreaking,” she says. “I grew up in a home that had more animals than people. We always had dogs and cats, and my mother was constantly rescuing injured animals. Watching her care for them instilled a deep love and respect for animals in me,” she says.

Today, the forest offers her something equally important: “The fresh air, the silence, and being completely surrounded by nature make it feel like heaven on earth,” she says. “There’s no network, no distractions, no materialism — just you and the natural world. Whenever I visit a forest, it feels like home — not literally, but because of the peace it brings.”