Actress Ruhani Sharma has stunned the audience with her upcoming character as a cop in the trailer of Her: Chapter 1, released on Sunday. In an exclusive chat with The Pioneer, the actress opens up about being hesitant to play the lead, scenes being divided into chapter titles, and more.
SHIKHA DUGGAL
Coming out in the strongest, fiercest, and most powerful role of a cop — Ruhani Sharma from the upcoming flick Her: Chapter 1 will be dominating this genre parallelly with that of men. But very exotically, Ruhani had planned to come face to face with the director to turn down the offer!
Staggering, right? We were fully thought-provoked after this; then how is she the face of the film now? Well, she recounts for our exclusive Tollywood interview, “I don’t know anyone from the police fraternity — and when the script knocked on my door, I was not confident about this. It would have been very early in my career to be leading a female-centric film. I could feel the precariousness very well! I think a little of the heart too, so I didn’t want to let down my producers because they were investing in me as their lead protagonist. The bet was on me, and that made me feel scared witless. There was persuasion; I was feeling hounded all of a sudden in my own head. What if it is unsuccessful? The onus will be on me! I am very emotive about all the scripts that I sign, it’s a personal call. The fearfulness of running down into losses already made me fix a ‘no’ in my head.”
Following this belief, she reached out to the director, and what happened next was heartening for the actress. “My director told me how he binge-watched my earlier film and found his leading lady there. I was still not convinced, and I was going on and on with my inquisitiveness. I took the risk! Because my thoughts of hopping onto the trend of doing a female-centric film wouldn’t make my film successful or help recover money. It is me who is responsible, so my choices should be responsible choices too! The fright was actually holding back my excitement about playing a powerful role single-handedly. My director has egged me on enough now, I am no more turning down any substantial offers because of a silly apprehension. The filmmakers are approaching me with belief, so I think it’s time for me to lead from the front.”
Now, as insiders, we were fascinated to know about the scenes being divided into chapter titles — “The director intimated me about the upcoming chapter already. But I haven’t signed it yet! Now, the producers are keen on continuing my role, which is exhilarating for me too. Initially, I thought the team was just turned on with excitement and may not take the second chapter so seriously. But they are sticking to their decision, and I am in the middle of script narration for that,” added the Nootokka Jillala Andagadu fame.
She continued, “On Sunday, the trailer was launched. I convinced Varun, and he instantly nodded a yes. I cannot reveal the hows and whys of it, the only indication I can drop right now is — you may see Varun Tej and I sharing screen-space very soon. Nothing is official or confirmed yet!”
And, the way she was decorated with stars in the “khaki” uniform made her go on about it. She expressed her infatuation with the police uniform, “Wearing a police uniform gives an actor the real high. My crew could notice my body language changing in those eight months. My parents have taken the look test images from me, they cherish them every day because of their desire to send me into the civil service. They, or I, couldn’t recognise Ruhani in those photographs. I can remember injuring my shoulder during an action sequence. The set piece didn’t go on for a long time, but we were trying to up the ante. I admit, I was over practicing! At the moment, I didn’t realise but later on felt I overdid it.”
Relentlessly expressing anecdotes from the sets, the actress goes on, “Some of the sequences weren’t planned. We were shooting during the monsoon season, and our shoots were continually delayed. One fine day, the director decided to go for it under some drizzle! Interestingly, not the pre-planned sequence turned out to be the most alleviating scene of my film. The weather played in favour of our luck, supposedly.”
Communicating a little about her director’s approach, she said, “He discussed every scene with me. He never okayed anything just for the sake of it! As a newcomer, he wasn’t sheepish about his techniques. I have seen actors get offended if the director asks for a re-take, but won’t work with him though. He’s not reserved at all! I had no clue about police procedures, it was all him. He was even taking proper care of the uniform given to us — a lot of directors let these deets go. That showed, he has clarity in his approach.”
The theatrical trailer of this investigative thriller, written and directed by debutant Sreedhar Swaraghav, was launched by Mega Prince Varun Tej on Sunday.
The trailer sets an intriguing tone, and Ruhani Sharma delivers a powerful and intense performance throughout, showcasing her brilliant screen presence.
