With films like Padmaavat, Kaatru Veliyidai, and the soon-to-be-released Chekka Chivantha Vaanam to her credit, Aditi Rao Hydari has broken through the ranks to carve a niche for herself.
And now, she make her debut in Telugu cinema with Indraganti Mohan Krishna’s Sammohanam. She plays an actress who falls in love with an illustrator, and Aditi says there’s more to the film than what the storyline suggests.
“Sometimes, we ourselves lose touch with reality and forget who we really are, and it’s all the more true when it comes to actors. People have a different perception about us. Although they are so much part of people’s daily lives, actors are still unreachable for most of them, and they also become objects and commodities. In this process, people tend to forget that actors are human beings too, they too have a heart. And their hearts break, they cry, and they are vulnerable. I loved that Mohan Krishna Indraganti addressed all this in the film and wrote such a beautiful character for me. Sammohanam humanises actors and I really hope people also see that when they watch the film,” she says.
Indraganti Mohan Krishna is one among the very few writer-directors in Telugu cinema who has focused on writing interesting roles for women. And Aditi confesses that she thoroughly enjoyed working with him because it turned to be a very collaborative experience. “I love working with directors who understand women and write them beautifully. Some writer-directors are extremely particular about what they want and they expect you to stick to it. But Indraganti was quite open to suggestions. I was able to add my own experiences as an actress into some of the scenes. It was very collaborative effort. I’m so glad that this is my debut film in Telugu and I must admit that I’ve been pampered way too much by the team (laughs),” the actress adds.
Over the past few years, Aditi has consistently been featured in characters where she plays someone who’s fragile and vulnerable, who might be left heart-broken anytime soon. The actress sees a pattern and agrees that it has a lot to do with wanting to work with directors who will push her to her limits.
“I am very vulnerable in person too. One of the strongest things that I find in a person is that they can look at someone in the eye and show their vulnerability. With fragility comes strength. You don’t have to be scream to show that you have strength. I’m very free-spirited. I work best in conditions where I can completely surrender myself to the vision of the director, and I get my fuel from that. I’ve worked with directors who nudge you to jump off a cliff, take risks without thinking too much. Mani Ratnam, Sanjay Leela Bhansali are like that. In fact, I’m here only because of the faith that my directors had in me,” she confesses.
It’s easy to understand why Aditi Rao Hydari is so fond of Mani Ratnam. The duo have struck a great equation and it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that she treats him like a father-figure. That he has been honing her craft is quite evident.
