Bad Girl’s Hindi release has been a bittersweet moment for director Varsha Bharath. While the film — originally released in Tamil and then Hindi — marked her directorial debut, it also was the last production from Vetrimaaran. During a press meet in Chennai on September 1, the filmmaker announced that he was shutting his production house, Grass Root Film Company, blaming the pressure he faced owing to the controversies surrounding Bad Girl and Manushi, which has been awaiting release for long.

Talking to mid-day, Bharath, who assisted Vetrimaaran on several films before making her directorial debut, said the idea of not having him as a producer scares her as a new director.

Describing it as “heartbreaking”, she shared, “It’s a bit scary to think that he won’t be producing because Bad Girl would not have been made if not for an investor like him who pushed me and my craft. This voice wouldn’t have survived the pressures of patriarchy. Personally, it’s a huge loss. Also, he has spoiled me rotten as a producer. It will be tough for me to work with another producer.”

Watching one of Vetrimaaran’s interviews offered some relief to her. “He clarified that he didn’t want to invest as a producer, but he was still keen on setting up projects because cinema matters to him,” she said.  

Currently, the Asuran (2019) director is mounting a project for another assistant director. Bharath revealed, “He will be involved in projects in other capacities.”

If films come with their own destiny, Bad Girl was always destined to reach the Tamil and Hindi-speaking audience. Varsha Bharath’s maiden directorial venture was released in Tamil on September 5. Now, the Hindi version of the movie, which sees Anjali Sivaraman as a teenage girl navigating lust and love in Chennai, is set to hit theatres on September 26.

Bharath remembers that right after scripting, many suggested she make the coming-of-age film in Hindi. “Many people asked me, ‘Why don’t you make this in Hindi? They have female leads who can mount a project without any hero.’ I was told this would make a great Hindi film. Also, the audience is much bigger for a Hindi movie. In Tamil cinema, you’re likely to have a big audience if you make something that is connected with the rural audience,” she explains.

But the director and writer were certain that she wanted to tell the story in a language and world she understood the best. “I didn’t know the world [of the Hindi audience] nearly enough. Authenticity is a big part of the movie. I didn’t feel confident about setting this anywhere but in Chennai. But I realised the story is universal as feelings are universal,” she says, before quipping, “Now I joke that I’m a pan-India  filmmaker.”

With Bad Girl, Bharath also feels a sense of vindication. Earlier, on seeing the trailer, many had claimed that the movie promoted underage drinking and showed the Brahmin community in a negative light. That changed after the release.

“A conservative YouTuber wanted my film boycotted. After watching the film, he said that he was wrong and the movie is nothing like he had imagined. Everything that happened after the trailer came out, boiled down to nothing after the movie was released. I wanted to make a film that women can watch with their mothers because of late, there has been no film that I want to take my mother to.”

The director found two champions in producer Vetrimaaran and presenter Anurag Kashyap. “Vetrimaaran gave me a free rein. It’s only after I edited the film that he gave me feedback. So, I had the space to make mistakes and learn,” she says, before praising Kashyap.

“They’d nudge me in a certain direction instead of telling me exactly how they’d do it. The most exciting part was having two people who told me, ‘You’ve made a good film, now let us take care of the rest’.”

She initially planned to make her comeback with a biopic on Indian freedom fighter Sarojini Naidu, titled Sarojini Naidu—The Unsung Freedom Fighter. However, the pandemic and elections disrupted Shanthi Priya’s plans in 2020. In the interim, she shot for Dharavi Bank (2022), and the Tamil film, Bad Girl.

Produced by filmmaker Vetri Maaran, directed by Varsha Bharath, and presented by Anurag Kashyap, Bad Girl won an award at the International Film Festival of Rotterdam. Priya says, “Bad Girl is a beautiful comeback after 30 years for me. In this coming-of-age drama about a teenager, whose aim in life is to have a boyfriend, I play her mother. It’s a relationship conflict between a daughter and her mother. When I signed this film, [in my head] it was about what my mother, and now me, went through to raise kids.”

Kashyap saw the rushes of Bad Girl when good friend Maaran invited him on set and then expressed his desire to present the story. “Anurag believed in the story, producer and director. He felt that this film needed to be put out everywhere,” she says.

While Priya basks in the reaction to the film, she remains keen to return to the set of Naidu’s biopic, directed by Vinay Chandra, to portray the poet in her senior years. “The remaining one-and-a-half schedule should be completed by this year,” says the actor, who made her Bollywood debut opposite Akshay Kumar in Saugandh (1991).

Ask her if she stays in touch with her former co-star Kumar, and Priya shares that she is “looking forward to an opportunity to work with him”.

After three decades, Shanthi Priya, who made her Hindi film debut with Saugandh (1991), is returning to the big screen with Anurag Kashyap and Vetrimaaran’s Tamil film Bad Girl. In the movie, she plays a school teacher grappling with her daughter’s troubling choices.

Reflecting on headlining a film at this stage of her career, the 54-year-old actress says, “It feels surreal, almost like coming full circle. When I started at the age of 18, I was a young girl trying to find my voice in a male-dominated industry. Today, leading a film at this stage isn’t just an opportunity — it’s a statement. Women’s stories, especially for those of a certain age, are often overlooked. This role reaffirms that relevance and talent don’t fade with time. I’m grateful to be part of this shift toward more inclusive storytelling that looks beyond age or stereotypes.”

What makes her role even more significant is that, for the first time in her career, she appears entirely bare-faced, without any make-up. She shares, “This was a first for me. Like most actors, make-up has been my safety net. When the director suggested going without it, I was nervous. My first thought was, ‘Will the audience even recognize me?’ However, the experience turned out to be liberating. It wasn’t about looking perfect — it was about being real. Without the distraction of make-up as a shield, I connected more deeply with the character. I learned that beauty is in rawness, not in foundation.”

She adds, “Over time, I’ve realized acting is about honesty, not perfection. Earlier, I’d focus on my looks and things like ‘Is my hair okay? Was the line perfect?’ and whether my performance was technically flawless. Now, I focus on being present in the moment and the scene. I’ve stopped overthinking and prefer trusting my instincts. Experience has taught me that it’s the unspoken moments and subtle emotions that resonate the most.”