"Even if my character didn't have much importance, I would have done HHVM. But I am glad my character is important," says actress Nidhhi Agerwal, talking about doing Hari Hara Veera Mallu. Ahead of the film's slated theatrical release on July 24th, the actress says that the project chose her, implying that it was her destiny to land such a substantial film.
In this interview, Nidhhi talks about shooting for Hari Hara Veera Mallu, the challenges faced and more.
It is difficult to land a nice character in a superstar vehicle. I was surprised. The songs Taara Taara and Kollagottinadhiro are so different from each other. My character has a very different arc. Pawan Kalyan sir is a superstar. Doing this one film equals doing a hundred movies. I know we have shot a good film. The result is in the audience's hands.
The homework I did was for learning the lines. I am a trained ballet dancer. I also know Kathak. I learned horse-riding and Bharatnatyam.
Aishwarya, the stylist of the film, must be credited with coming up with excellent costumes and jewelry. She researched a lot. The jewelry would be stuck to the costume, etc. A lot of detailing went into designing them. All the jewelry is real. Gold worth more than Rs 1.5 Cr was on my body. Incidentally, all of that was sourced from my aunt's jewelry shop!
I was prepared to give my best shot since this is a Pawan Kalyan sir project. I know his swag and his body of work. Everyone would recognize me as an actress in his film! He is a literature and poetry person. I was highly impressed when he spoke about writers and poets. I indirectly learned a lot from him. The bigger the superstardom, the more humble they are. Pawan sir is so grounded. He readily gets inside his character once he is on set.
Both Krish Jagarlamudi sir and Jyoti Krishna sir are special. It was Krish sir who offered me Panchami, the character. Jyothi sir is technically very strong. His talent is contemporary. He has a bit of a modern approach and works at a fast pace. I am very fond of AM Rathnam sir. We have been through all the ups and downs of HHVM. Money-wise, he took all the burden on himself to make this project shape up.
Before the trailer, a lot of people had questions. But, after the trailer, all doubts have been removed. A period film doesn't become dated. I have combination scenes with many characters but the maximum are with Pawan Kalyan sir's character. Everyone on board totally believed in the story.
Although I started out in Hindi, I am a Telugu actress. I am very happy here. In the last four years, I haven't gone back to Hindi or even tried to get work there.
Part 2 is going to be a continuation of Part 1. Krish sir did give me some references in the form of monochrome pics. The direction department gave me references. The team was very well-prepared.
Prabhas sir is one of the sweetest persons I have ever met. In The Raja Saab, he has so many lines. You will see him do lots of comedy. It was fun shooting for the movie. HHVM was a serious film to shoot for.
