Your upcoming films are already creating a lot of buzz. Tell us more about them. 

Thandel will be released on February 7 next year. I’m almost done shooting for it. The film is a true story about some fishermen from a village called Srikakulam in Andhra Pradesh, how they get caught in Pakistani waters and are put in jail. It tells the journey of this process and their subsequent release.

I went down to the village, spent time there, and experienced all their day-to-day activities. It taught me a lot about their lives. They find pleasure in the simplest things. We live in cities and we feel we have a thousand problems around us, but sometimes we just tend to complicate things for ourselves. I saw how they are with themselves and with nature. I also saw how hard life is for them in the sea. At times, they live in unlivable conditions. I have developed a lot of respect for them. The other is a mythological thriller. It will likely start in January-February next year. Director Karthik Varma Dandu’s Telugu film Virupaksha is another mythological thriller and has done extremely well. He’s good with this genre and it’s something I have not attempted so far; I am really looking forward to that as well. 

Boundaries are fading when it comes to regional or Hindi cinema. What is your take on pan-Indian cinema?

‘Pan India’ is not about language, it’s about the content you pick. If that content is rooted and close to the soil, it will have great exposure and when anything has great exposure it’s going to travel and that’s what is called ‘pan India’. So, I’m always looking for these kinds of scripts as an actor I want to create for maximum exposure. I’m selfish that way. 

We’ve only seen you in a few Hindi cinema works, such as Laal Singh Chaddha, so far. Do you have more Bollywood projects in the pipeline? Would you prefer OTT over the silver screen?

I have nothing coming up right now, but I would love to do Hindi films. I enjoy the process thoroughly and I respect the audience there immensely. They are very encouraging. So, yes, if I find the right script, I would love to do another Hindi film. I am continuing the web series (Dhootha for Prime Video, it will be renewed for a second season). And yes, I’m open to OTT. 

Romance and action have been your armour in most films like Love Story (co-starring Sai Pallavi). Do you think it’s now time to dabble in other genres too?

I’m always looking for romance because I’ve grown up watching love stories. If you can have romance and action dialled into the script with the right balance, it is the best combination. Honestly, I want to do everything, but a period drama for sure. I really want to explore that space. 

Tell us something about your association with Chivas Luxe Collective Alchemy this year. 

Firstly, I was flattered when I was asked to be ‘The Alchemist of Emotion’ because my professional life is all about ‘emotions’ and bringing a script or a character onto the screen in my own way, making it my own and believing in giving the audience a very immersive experience when they come to the theatre. When I say immersive experience, it trails back to emotions because that’s what the audience connects to. When they are sitting in the theatre and watching a performance, in a way, we control their breath, their thought process. All this is our emotion.

It was very inspiring for me as to how they had conceptualised the perfume that is going to be launched and how the evening is all about celebrating artists and art from various mediums. The complexity and the thought process with which it was put together inspire me.  

Reya Mehrotra is a freelancer