After 'SIR', Samyuktha is up for her second theatrical release of the year. 'Virupaksha' will hit the cinema on April 21.
In this interview, the multi-lingual actress says that she grew up in a village, much like her character in the Summer release. She travelled across the interiors of Andhra to know about the people and their lifestyles. The 'Bimbisara' actress believes that her performance in the Karthik Dandu directorial will go down as her best. "I want to become a better actress with each film," the 'Bheemla Nayak' starlet says.
Sai Dharam Tej plays the lead role in this mystical thriller that can scare the audience. "This is not a horror film as such. The story is set somewhere in the early 1990s," Samyuktha reveals.
'Virupaksha' is set in a fictional village named Rudravanam. It is a village on a hilltop with a few hundred houses. A temple with unique belief systems is where the story takes place. Nandini is my character's name. She is in her 20s, she is a bit arrogant, and she is straightforward and frank. In one of the scenes, Sai Dharam Tej's character enters the village from another place. She has this attitude that she is the daughter of the soil and holds it against the male protagonist in a scene. The way she talks, the way she walks... everything emerges from her characterization.
The curly hair and the half-saree look were chosen consciously. Sukumar garu (the film's screenplay writer is the Pushpa director himself), the other day, complimented me on stage saying I am looking beautiful.
This is a horror thriller with commercial elements. The heroine's character had to be presentable. And I had to look good given the nature of the character. The looks were taken care of by other crafts. My job was to focus on performance. Even the colour of the 'dupatta' was worked out after much forethought about how I should look on the big screen. The blouse I wear belongs to the 1990s style. The dress looks old and worn out in some scenes, while it looks new in a festival scene.
Doing the film was an adventurous journey. I always believed that it would always be worth it. My efforts have paid off. After yesterday's pre-release screening, cinematographer Shamdat called me up and described my performance as amazing. His words made me emotional.
We did workshops for 'Virupaksha'. I got into the skin of the character right from that time. I didn't know even one word at that time. I was getting nervous, although I was concealing my anxiety. I had to get a grip on the language. I hired a tutor. During the second wave of the pandemic, I brushed up on my language furthermore. Once I was on set, it didn't look like the language was new to me. It was a marathon process. The film was shot over a period of one year.
Everyone has a nice role in this film. Even birds and animals have well-written roles. There is a tailor, there is a milkman, there are others who have their purpose in the story.
SVCC, the production house, has been great ever since the workshops began. They have done big-ticket projects and I am proud to be associated with them on 'Virupaksha'. This is composer Ajaneesh Loknath's first big release after last year's 'Kantara'. The team is really happy with the background score.
Sai Tej had to do so much hard work. I want to see him excel. It's emotional. It was not easy for him to regain strength after a road accident. Every individual is different. He is chatty with everyone on set. He is always cool. He passes jokes and gets along with one and all.
I receive guidance from the books I read. I learn from my travels.
'Devil' with Nandamuri Kalyanram is my next theatrical release. We completed the shoot recently. I want to see how people will receive my performance in 'Virupaksha'. I am sure people will give me different suggestions about how I should choose films after Virupaksha's release. I can't switch to modern characters all of a sudden. I have to do it gradually.
I am a big fan of Shobana ma'am. The other day, I was watching her montage shots in 'Dalapathy'. I was amazed by her looks. That's a kind of character I would love to do. I also want to do a comedy.
