Actress Dimple Hayathi, who is all set to woo the audience with her character in the upcoming film Ramabanam, speaks to the Hyderabadi media about not being a social media person, how filmmaker Sriwass helped her out with her character and more
Amartya Smaran
Actress Dimple Hayathi took over the minds and hearts of the Telugu audience with her dance number Jarra Jarra in Gaddalakonda Ganesh (2019). It was just not a regular song that people would glance through and forget about all at once. The hook step stayed with the masses. Small portions of the song started going viral on the internet. People on social media wanted to know who this young, budding actress was. Everything about her piqued their interest.
A few years later, she starred in Ravi Teja’s Khiladi (2022), which underperformed at the box office. The film failed, but again, people did notice her acting chops and graceful dance. This time around, she will be seen playing a bubbly, urban girl-next-door YouTube vlogger in Sriwass’ Ramabanam, starring opposite Macho Star Gopi Chand. The film is all set for release on May 5.
Wait a minute! Dimple says she’s not someone who’s active on social media like her contemporaries. So, we asked her what her reference point was for playing an urban girl-next-door vlogger. She replied, “For me, it is different because I am not a social media person. I post once every two months. I am not someone who makes these reels and vlogs. It was all new for me. If you look at this generation of actors or actresses, they post 3–4 photos per day. I am not in that category for sure.”
Talking about how filmmaker Sriwass helped her with the nitty-gritty of the role, she further continued, “Sriwass Garu asked me to go with the flow and be spontaneous during the screen test. He initially guided me through the process of getting into the character. Even for me, creating YouTube videos, reels, and vlogs was fun. It was just not me; there were so many senior actors whom I’ve worked with, and I got to make them all a part of my vlogs on the set.”
Actors should be able to do everything. A good actor is like a chameleon. One should be able to blend into any role with finesse. Dimple says she’d like to believe that she can play anything, but she isn’t sure if she’d get the much-needed acceptance from the audience. One reason is that she skyrocketed to fame with her dance number in Gaddalakonda Ganesh.
It could feel extremely daunting to break out of stereotypes, but we’ve seen plenty of examples of actors recreating their image. For the first time, Dimple will be seen playing the role of the girl next door. Her transition from appearing in glamorous dance numbers and roles to a vlogger in a family entertainment shows how sincerely she’s trying to break the existing image that the audience has in their minds.
“When I did Gaddalakonda Ganesh, the audience said, ‘She’s glamorous, and she’s not our girl next door’,” said Dimple. “It took me some time to break those stereotypes. And I am still in the process of discovering myself. If you remove the makeup on my face and ask me to fit into the role of a villager, I know I can do that, but I don’t know if people would accept it or not. For them to accept it, I have to give it a 100 percent. I would love to do everything. It could be a glamorous role, the role of an urban girl, or the role of a village girl. It can be anything! (smiles)”
A couple of months ago, the Atrangi Re (2021) actress revealed that her first commercial film was shelved, and that broke her heart. Recently, during the trailer launch of Ramabanam, she turned a tad emotional talking about an accident in which her grandfather was involved in. All these setbacks, and she’s still emotionally intact in many ways.
Imagine your first film being shelved—wouldn’t that break your heart? It’d be traumatising for anyone who’s slightly serious about their craft. Dimple told The Pioneer that she’s come out of it a lot stronger.
“As a person, I keep evolving,” said Dimple with sheer confidence. “And coming to that film being shelved, I am over it, but that procedure turned me into a strong person today. Maybe if I continued cribbing about it in my room, I wouldn’t be sitting in front of you guys today.”
She attributes coming out of tough situations to both the naysayers and her supporters. The Abhinetri 2 actress shared, “I could overcome those tough times because there were many people who helped me get out of it. Be it the people who’ve given me good advice or the ones who’ve hurt me, all of them have helped me grow. That’s the reason why I’m still able to talk to all of you with such ease.”
The young, enchanting up-and-coming star is someone who makes the most of the worst. We asked her if any of the setbacks and her coming out of them translated into her performances.
“Ya(x6)! It does help me,” enthused Dimple, who ended by saying, “Somebody was telling me the other day that I used to hesitate to speak or communicate with a lot of breaks. Also, I am somebody who can take my experiences and put them in there to enhance my performance. It’s nice that I’ve become stronger, and I hope I’ll be much stronger.”
