In an exclusive conversation with idlebrain, Sai Pallavi opens up on why her filmography boasts of more Telugu films despite her debut in Malayalam, her role in Friday release, Virata Parvam, why she goes all out promoting her films, picking up new languages and what she does for fun.
You’ve started off with Malayalam cinema but the majority of your films have been in Telugu. What is the reason? I couldn’t decline the scripts that were offered to me, so I ended up doing more films in Telugu.
You have much more value in the Telugu film industry.
I think here I have more scripts, which I could perform or wanted to be a part of.
Does it have something to do with your debut film Fidaa, wherein Sekhar Kammula wrote a beautiful role for you? Also, you are consistent with your quality… Ever since Premam, the directors I have collaborated with have always worked with something which was not the usual way of portraying women. I’m lucky that I met or had an encounter with such directors. From thereon, my mind also started shaping up and my needs and cravings started changing as well. Otherwise, I had no idea what I was doing in the industry. I slowly started realizing that this is what I like and I dislike. I didn’t learn in the first go itself.
Talk to us through your role in Virata Parvam…
Every character that I’ve essayed, I always tried to connect with it and tried to bring some part of me into the film. Also, I take a little bit of the film into my life as well. But this is a story which happened at a time which I’m not fully aware of. The way people thought at that time... their mindset… and to what extent they would go for their love. All of this was very new for me because right now I’m taught to be in my comfort zone. I’m taught to love inside my own space. I don’t think I will go out of my way to prove my love to someone else. The mindset of Vennela was different. It took a while for me to understand and not judge her in the beginning but try to think about how things processed in her head. And from there, it was a beautiful journey. When you start playing different roles, you’ll start understanding that there are different personalities out there. Otherwise, you are always spending time with yourselves which makes you think what you feel is real and true. You don’t know how the other person feels. If it's only your family you’ll know that. But then when you are playing characters like this, you know there are people like this existing out there. I’m lucky to have been educated with such characters.
You went and met somebody (relatives of Sarala) in Warangal recently. Is Vennela based on a real character?
It is based on some real incidents which transpired in Warangal. I think Venu garu has done some research on it because he didn’t want to go wrong. And the incidents should be as real as possible from that place. So this was one such personality from whose life he has taken a few incidents. So we went to meet their family and it was for the first time I was meeting them. The mother asked me to sit close to her and she started talking to me like how she would speak to her daughter. She asked me where I had disappeared and didn’t I miss them? I got very emotional because I haven’t met a family whom I’ve played… parts of it. And when they talk to you like I’m that person, I don’t know how to cut off. It’s a very different emotion. To know about their mindset at that point of time, how the family was thinking, what was going inside each one's head and how the society was at that point of time… I got to know her from the people who were from that point of time. So it was a different feeling for me. I was a little scared because there was so much pain, hurt and other emotions that you generally cover up over the years. But you know there are a few deep rooted thoughts and emotions that will never die down. I saw them the other day. So it was quite an experience.
You are one actress who makes it a point to attend each and every promotional activity of your film. What motivates you to do so because most other heroines are commercial and they have a price for everything?
I definitely can’t speak for others but I know every actor accepts a film because he/she wants to be known as the person who played that part. Due to family emergencies or may be due to their other assignments, they may not be able to attend promotions. I think given the current time I always allot separate time for promotions because I think nobody better than the ones who are involved with the film can tell people how honestly they’ve made it. So for me it becomes more of a responsibility when we play a part and the audience doesn’t know how much they should believe. It has to come from our mouth. Sometimes when I speak to people about something I believe in and if they share the same emotion after watching the film, it’s more validating for me. I feel ok we are thinking in the right way. It makes me much more cautious when I pick scripts and do them because I think it’s important that the people and the artists have that connection. If they don’t like a film, it affects us. We will think ‘where did we go wrong?’ Nobody makes films for the sake of making them. You believe something, you put it out and when it works, it’s very validating.
You understand and speak so many languages including Georgian. How difficult is it for you to pick so many languages? It is not easy. I think in school my second language was Hindi. If you ask me how good I’m with my Hindi, I rate it at 40-50 percent. If you ask me how good my Telugu is despite the fact that I don’t speak perfect Telugu yet, I can say I’m more fluent now. I think how passionate you are about your work drives you to do that. I think I was a pretty bad student in school which is why I couldn’t get Hindi right. But I’m pretty sure every time I do a film that I’m passionate about; I learn the language and own it.
Most of us know you are a good dancer courtesy Dhee. Now, you are one of the best actresses’ around. Other than films, what is your passion?
(Thinks a lot) I like working on myself and that plays a major role in how I look at life and how I deal with scripts and all of that. So every time I cut off from myself and get too much involved in work and other things, I feel like I’m a different person doing something else instead of being in the moment. So if you ask me what I’m passionate about, I think I want to be the best version of myself and I try ways with which it is achieved. Maybe meditation and spiritual practices… I think I’m somewhere interested to know more about myself. I grew up in an environment where everybody spoke about enlightenment as if it’s a cakewalk. You want to feel that emotion which your parents and grandparents spoke off. So sometimes when I can, I want to work on myself and make sure that I’m a little sounder in my mind.
What do you do for fun?
I’m not a very funny person. My sister is the fun version of me. I like to be to myself. I don’t like going out much. I have fun when I’m at home with my friends and family. I don’t have to do something to have fun. I’m content with the way I feel. I have joy when I go and shoot. I have so much joy when I promote and watch my film on screens. Rest of the time, I feel content and very neutral. I don’t have those heightened emotions (laughs). I’m not a social person. I would love to travel, which I haven’t been able to do. In fact, I want to travel solo but there’s fear in my head that I might get lost or something. You know that trafficking thing… I think I was a little traumatized when I was a kid. So since then getting lost in a place has always troubled me. It stays there in my head… As a child I got lost once. Apparently, my parents were in a shop and I got lost in a crowd. I don’t know how they found me. My dad said if I had gotten lost that day, they would’ve lost me forever. From then on, I think the fear started. If I embark on a solo trip, that’d be the craziest and exciting thing that I’d ever do.
What are the other films that you are doing right now?
I’m doing a Tamil film that will start by the end of the year. Otherwise, the rest of the time I’m just reading scripts and looking for the right one to be a part of.
Getting a good role in a commercial film is not an easy…
A well-written script or a good character is what I’m looking for. I believe every actor gets what he/she deserves. Maybe until now whatever scripts I’ve read, I didn’t deserve to play them. So whichever is written for me, will be mine at the right time.
