Actress Payal Rajput will be seen in Mangalavaram gets candid with The Pioneer and shared some exclusive insights about the upcoming film.
SHIKHA DUGGAL
Telugu actress Payal Rajput is one of the few female stars who commands an audience for herself and is most known all over the country for her sensational kissing scene in RX100. But what sets her credo apart is the way she describes her audacious roles as a pipe dream. Because, frankly speaking, not every actress can fan the heat. You know what we mean!
So, the latest buzz is that her village action thriller, so rooted and complicated titled
Mangalavaram’s shoot has finally wrapped up. And we are the first ones to break to you her exclusive interview on the same, granted that the promotions are going to start in August and she’s leaving for a personal trip to Kedarnath tomorrow.
So she remarks, “My debut role in the Punjabi industry is still very close to me simply because I could relate to it. I am a courageous woman, and I don’t shy away from voicing my opinions. This led to a staggering character in RX100, but that’s not my claim to fame.
Fans are misapprehending it. Because, I am assuming I am yet to deliver a masterpiece, and I think my character from Mangalavaram is going to be the one. When I heard my manager tell me that Ajay Bhupathi’s production house wanted to sign me, deep down in my heart, it was already a “yes” to him without hearing the narrations.
I keep wondering to myself, who am I to quiz a director’s sensibility like his? He then came over, and throughout the narration, kid you not: I was experiencing cold creeps! This is real unorthodox cinema—a rare film. You cannot even categorise its genre because it’s so complicated! So we were re-uniting with this film. And, she was dolorous to work for something uncommon in the Telugu industry for a really long time.”
She continued, “When your film flops, that’s when the harsh reality of this industry hits you. And I admire actors like Naseeruddin Shah, Radhika Apte, and Manoj Bajpayee. I want my approach towards cinema just to be like them! Nowadays, it’s getting very difficult for me to think beyond unwonted roles in cinema. Maybe because I am an old soul? I don’t want to sign love stories anymore! Thank God for it; I am an actress and hold that power to inspect other options.”
Talking about going topless for the poster of the film, she sparks some exchange of views for the readers, “I suggest audiences and media to step beyond boldness because it’s an emotional story. I am just being a true actor!
There are tears in my eyes in the poster, so that depicts how I am shedding my inhibitions and not just the clothes. We are not trying to show sex appeal in this movie; the poster itself is speaking unspoken to you. This poster was just the tip of an iceberg, I travelled beyond my limits for this movie. From where I am seeing the poster, it’s painful to me.
I am suffering from it! And times have changed for the better. When I did a kissing scene, audiences made havoc out of it, and today nobody cares. There is a difference between adult scene and temerity. I will never say yes to a skin flick, and Mangalavaram is not a skin flick.”
It was during the initial years of her career that questions about whatever the script demanded to be played, etc haunted her, but not anymore, and that’s coming from a space of experience in the industry. She asks us, “Why should I repeat my role?” Because she has a very loyal fan-base. And she is not going to plunge into depression just because she has done a fearless daring movie. And on the contrary, she has another flick coming up titled Mayapetika, whichiss on a much lighter note compared to the former one.
On the same note, and wondering about the central theme, the actress mentions, “I need therapy to get rid of my cell phone. This movie was meant to be! Cellphones are turning out to be a disaster in actress’ lives. It’s always buzzing. I don’t even go to the loo without my phone, and I am not even kidding. Before stepping into something serious like Mangalavaram, I signed up for this film to feel light-hearted and finished it.
When the director told me about millennials suffering from anxiety issues due to cell phone addiction, I didn’t turn down the offer because maybe I was one of those. I am playing myself! And it was a calculated move too — so that when spectators come to watch Mangalavaram, they don’t get a shock (she laughs out loud). So this one was a naive anthology.”
Speaking of her director Ajay Bhupathi’s approach towards Telugu cinema, she illustrates very clearly since she’s onto her second film with him that, “He’s the kind of director who is not interested in making popular fashion movies. He’s very infectious on sets—not figuratively, but his visions are definitely so. Don’t call him a normal director.
He belongs to a village. His mentality is grass-rooted and that’s what is visible in his films. If you’ll hear his village stories, you will seriously get some shivers. We always have this fun tiff with each other because he is really fond of Aditi Rao Hydari’s working style.”
Moving ahead in this interesting interview, we pose the question, on how does she hold the footing space for smaller roles in her filmography? She answered, “There were times when I was misleaded in this industry because I am not a Telugu. I am very protective of myself here. This business is very volatile, you see.
If there are brilliant highs, you’ll also see depreciating lows, like I have. Once, I had signed a movie, and my portrayal was completely changed overnight. I was very hurt. I wish I was a star kid; the production would have really heard me out. It’s true! I have a lot of respect for the directors who cast actresses on the basis of their talent and not the lineage she’s coming from.”
She calls Mangalavaram one of the most difficult movies of her life because “I had to go into a cocoon to depict this specific character. And in my real life, if something wrong is happening before me, I just cannot shut my mouth, but the case was very different in this movie. I am very sacrificial and courageous in real life. On the contrary, I was only parroting either a “yes” word or a “no” word or just nodding my head.
And, mind you, all without a smile! I was shunned by my director for showing my teeth. I was so much in a fix, that I instructed my manager to not send me any more films to sign until and unless I finish Mangalavaram because I was so focused on mellowing myself down for this movie.”
The first song of the film Mayapetika has also been released, and the curious step of Payal Rajput is going viral. On the same pretext, the actress comments, “The director informed me that I am going to wear a two-piece, and as soon as I heard this I started to go on a routine to lose weight so that I look sizzling on screen!
When we started to shoot, I was uncomfortable, so I worn a sarong on it. I am an avid follower of Priyanka Chopra Jonas, and as she said, only bold women make history, so I am one of those now.”
