'It's been an interesting journey'

Gandhinagar Grapevine

Actor Priyamani is busy promoting her latest release ‘Kalpana 2’ not only on social media but also on the small screen. The movie is special for her because it is for the first time that she is acting with actor Upendra and she was especially chosen to play the character.

Priyamani essays the role of Upendra’s romantic interest in ‘Kalpana 2’, the remake of ‘Kanchana 2’. She says that she has tried to add her own flavour to the character, just so that it doesn’t appear to be a copy of the original. In an interview with Nina C George, she shares her experience of working in the film.

How was it working with Upendra?

It’s been an interesting journey working with Upendra sir because he is not only a brilliant actor but also a very creative director. He looks at every character both from an artiste’s as well as a director’s perspective. He shares his observation with his co-stars too. Working with him is a wonderful learning experience because he takes everybody along with him and makes sure that all the characters are in sync with each other.

How different was your role from the original?

It is almost the same but I have tried to add my flavour to my character. I appear in two distinct looks in the film. My body language  and costumes have been tweaked according to the change of character. The transformation in the second half is especially interesting.

Your experience of being a part of dance reality show ‘D4 Dance’.

We are into the next season of the show and it has only been getting better. It is tougher to score the group performances because even if one person in the group makes a mistake, the points tend to drop. The solo performances are easier to judge. I mainly judge from the audience point of view and don’t get into the technical details of judging. It’s an interesting team on the show.  

What’s your role in ‘Dana Kayonu’?

I essay the role of a woman aspiring to be a police constable. This character does everything she can to be a police constable and in the process, even snubs the man who confesses his love for her. There are shades of grey to her character which are revealed only towards the end.  

We hear you are working with Prakash Raj...

I am playing a unique character in Prakash Raj’s bilingual directorial in Kannada and Telugu, which is a remake of a Malayalam film. The character has been conceptualised as an extremely restless one. I also agreed to the project because this is the first time that I am working with Prakash sir. As a director, he guides you well and clearly explains what he wants in the character.