As told to Akash Bhatnagar (MUMBAI MIRROR; May 29, 2020)

I still remember the first day I walked on to a film set as an actor for my Telugu debut, Leader. On the first day itself, I had scenes with Suhasini Maniratnam, who was playing my mother in the film. Sekhar Kammula, my director, and his ADs, all chilled-out people, were a bit overwhelmed since the scale of this film was slightly big. Eventually, Suhasini ji was the one who made me comfortable, sitting with me, rehearsing the scene and chatting about different things to familiarise me with my surroundings. I was stunned to see a veteran actress like her sit down and chat with me.

Coincidentally, my first shot was of the two of us sitting together after my father’s death in the film. She gives me his diary, which has a list of all that he wanted to do in his life. It felt somewhat surreal, but I was happy to face the camera.

Rohan’s (Sippy, director) wife Roopa had got some stills of mine from Leader through a friend from the sets. They were casting for Dum Maaro Dum at the time and Rohan called me to ask if I wanted to audition. I was game. He sent the script over and I loved it. All this happened around the initially scheduled release of Leader, a political film. At that time, there was a lot of political disturbance in Andhra Pradesh, with the erstwhile Chief Minister (Y S Rajasekhara Reddy) having just passed away. Our film was getting pushed repeatedly. So, when I got Rohan’s call, I took some rushes from Leader along, with the editor’s approval. Rohan liked them and told me that they would be shooting in Goa for three-four months. And I was on board.

Being from Hyderabad, I knew and spoke Hindi, but I never thought I would be speaking it in a film so soon. Luckily, since I was a Goan in the film, my accent didn’t matter. But I did undergo diction-training in Hindi and guitar classes, biking lessons. I was in Mumbai for around two months for the prep before the film rolled.

Dum Maaro Dum was set in Goa, with just Prateik (Babbar) and me there along with Rohan during the first week of the shoot. I’d been hanging out with them for a while during the training and since we were around the same age, it turned out to be the best film shoot of my life. For my first shot, it was just Prateik and me enjoying ourselves at a carnival. And for the first five days, it was only that, after which the main work started.

There was a sense of accomplishment after doing two films in two years, in two different film industries. But the euphoria faded away quickly, as my next films in both languages tanked the year after. In my first three years in the industry, I had two hits and two flops. That was a reality check!


Rana Daggubati with Suhasini Maniratnam in Leader; with Prateik Babbar in Dum Maaro Dum

Sanyukta Iyer (MUMBAI MIRROR; July 1, 2017)

After directing the Amitabh Bachchan, Farhan Akhtar starrer Wazir, Bejoy Nambiar is calling the shots with the bilingual Solo, featuring OK Kanmani actor Dulquer Salmaan in the lead. The film went on floors in 2016, with Dino Morea and Neha Sharma joining in as supporting characters for the film’s Lonavala schedule in May 2017 while Nassar and Suhasini Maniratnam, who will be seen as Dulquer’s parents, shot for the final schedule in Kochi recently.

Bejoy, who wanted the romantic thriller to feature unique songs, has roped in Shashaa Tirupati, who has previously collaborated with A R Rahman on the composer’s single, “O Sona Tere Liye”, and has recorded “Chal Kahin Door” for the upcoming Sridevi, Nawazuddin Siddiqui-starrer, Mom.

The filmmaker had sampled Shashaa’s rendition of the recreated “Hamma Hamma”, from Shaad Ali’s OK Jaanu, which was picturised on Aditya Roy Kapur and Shraddha Kapoor, and decided that she was the ideal singer to add an edgy additional track to his own film’s score. “Along with the Bangalore-based progressive rock band Agam, Shashaa has recently recorded a quirky romantic song for the film. It is comparatively dark for a love song but full of pizzazz,” a source told Mirror.

MUMBAI MIRROR (November 29, 2016)

Tamannaah Bhatia is thrilled to be a part of the yet-untitled Tamil remake of Vikas Bahl’s critically acclaimed hit Queen, which will be directed by veteran actress Revathi.

“Ever since I saw Queen, I wanted to be a part of its remake. What makes the film special is that it’s one of those rare women-centric films which succeeded in reaching out to everybody, across all sections of the audience,” Tamannaah said.

Having waited over a year for the opportunity, she said that she is thoroughly excited. “I felt liberated when I saw Queen, and I can’t wait to start working on the remake. The fact that Revathi ma’am is directing it makes it even more special,” the actress exulted.

The film will feature dialogues by actress-filmmaker Suhasini Maniratnam. “I think it’s going to be a great combination. More than a remake, this will be treated as an adaptation as a lot of things have to be changed to suit Tamil sensibilities,” added Tamannaah.