As the film Chaari 111 made its OTT debut on Saturday, we connected with the leading lady of the film, Samyuktha Viswanathan, who feels this is a film that will be enjoyed even more on OTT, leading to a fun chat about the film, post-release experiences, and more.
The Vennela Kishore and Samyuktha Viswanathan starrer Chaari 111 is now premiering on OTT after a successful theatrical run. Directed by TG Keerthi Kumar, the film, a spy thriller, saw the leading lady perform some action sequences in her debut film itself.
For Samyuktha, this is her feature film in Telugu after proving her mettle in some popular Tamil projects like Modern Love Chennai and Sweet Karam Dosa, among others.
The actress couldn’t have asked for more for her debut. As the movie is now premiering on Prime Video, the actress is looking forward to doing some more interesting projects in Telugu. Furthermore, she couldn’t wait for the film to debut on OTT, as she feels Chaari 111 is a film that people will enjoy more on OTT.
Talking to us, the actress, a Chennai native, shared, “This is a movie that caters to the audience. This is a fun, breezy watch for the audience just to sit back and entertain yourself, and I think it is the kind of film I would watch with family when I don’t want to think too much and take a break. I am in talks for a couple of projects, and I am hoping something positive happens in the coming days.”
Taking us back to the time when the film was released in theatres, she shared, “I went to watch this film in theatres with multiple groups—my friends, family, and groups—and they loved it. It was nice to see them cheering and laughing. I knew what was coming up, and I was only watching them to see if they would laugh at those scenes or not, and they did, thankfully. This film has scenes from other scenes to which we added some more pepper, and honestly, I’m glad people enjoyed it.”
“I have put in a lot of effort for my role, and I am glad it was appreciated,” she added.
She has previously been associated with a few web series in Tamil, and this was her first Telugu feature film. Sharing her experience, the actress narrated, “Honestly, initially I was a little worried, because I didn’t know the language, because if you don’t know the language, it is easy to get alienated, but the Telugu industry and people I notice are truly so welcoming and warm. They are so accepting of new people coming. It was very refreshing for me to be on set. They also made me feel confident and good about what I was doing. Now some of my closest friends are Telugu people, which is so fun, and that’s why I hope to work on more Telugu projects.”
“I am a Tamil Ponnu, but you all will see me as a Telugu ammayi now,” she asserted.
Asked what’s that one aspect in a script that makes Samyuktha say yes, the actress confidently replied, “The scope of my character is the first thing I would look at. I look at lead roles, but nowadays there are movies and webseries coming with ensemble roles where you may not be the heroine, but you will be the character who will carry the story forward. I would love to read my scripts, so I really go through the script, and even besides the narration, I would ask if they are comfortable sharing the script. I am a visual reader.”
The actress has played varied roles in her career so far, but she feels she doesn’t have enough roles in her kitty to be able to say which gave her much recognition; she feels she just barely scratched the surface of my potential. “Because after how much effort you put in, there is definitely a factor of luck, and I am waiting for that role that would really help me reach that potential. With Chaari, I thought it would show my potential because, along with stunts, there was also acting involved, but I think only when it comes to OTT will it reach a larger audience, and in terms of recognition, it will be only after that. That being said, my role in Chaari 111 was very satisfying to do.”
During our research before this interview, we learned that Samyukta has been part of only a few webseries in Tamil, including Sweet Karam, and Engga Hostel, among others. We were curious if she chose Chaari 111 in Telugu to break the fear of typecasting,and she responded, “It was not something I thought of initially. I come from a zero film background,and I don’t know how the intricacies work or how people tend to typecast into a webseries actor vs. a film actor, but as I started doing it, the opportunities that came to me were the opportunities I could do. Unfortunately, a lot of film opportunities slid through my fingers, and I began shooting but got shelved, so the webseries that came to me were good opportunities. There was no question to say no to. I was happy to do it, but it was only after I finished them that I heard a couple of people say, ‘Oh, she does only web series’ and I wanted to be an actor who will do everything. Be it music videos, feature films, or films that go to festivals or webseries, if I really like a story or a team, I would want to do it.”
The actress, who is also a writer and a ballet dancer, continued, “My mom also finds me a little crazy for doing this. Because I wake up, and if I don’t have an acting project to look forward to, I get spiralling. I will be looking for a new project. When Chaari 111 came, it wasn’t a thing that I wanted to do something different, but when it came, it was like, ‘I get to do a feature film; I get to do it with a team that’s very interesting and a fun story. I get to do stunts, which don’t happen with a lot of heroines, and work with some extremely talented actors’. It was more of a decision that came from my heart than the business part of it.”
