Akshatha pins hopes on twin releases

Akshatha Sreedhar Shastry had two releases this Friday, ‘Trataka’ and ‘Uddishya’. The actor is excited that she got to showcase two avatars in the films and hopes the audience will accept her. In a candid chat with Tini Sara Anien, she talks about her characters and more.

Tell us about the films...

While Trataka is meant to be a mass entertainer, the other is a suspense-thriller-horror flick. The stories are starkly different from each other. My characters belong to two different worlds. In Trataka, I play Aparna, the wife of a cop (played by Ajith Jayaraj) and I portray the role of Vidya in Uddishya.

Do you feel these films will help your career in Sandalwood?

I have been a part of several films like ‘Shh... Echarike’, ‘Panipuri’ and ‘Parthasarathi’ but I wanted the audience to see me in new avatars. With ‘Trataka’ and ‘Uddishya’ releasing together, the audience will get to see what I am capable of doing in one shot. I have my fingers crossed.

Are you excited or nervous?

I am quite nervous as I do not know how people will accept me. I am also excited as I hope this will help me pave my path. I want to be a part of the industry for as long as possible and bag many awards.

Which of these two roles was challenging?

My role as Vidya was quite a challenge. I play different shades in the film and this was taxing. I have different looks in the film and each of the looks had a distinct mood. I had never tried such makeup before and it took almost three hours to get the makeup done.

There are many things that a 16-year-old will not know how to deal with; this had to be depicted by my character. However, I have more lines and intense scenes in ‘Uddishya’.

Some fun moments from the sets...

I am lucky that I have always worked with fun teams in all my films. In Trataka, there is a scene where Ajith hits me and I faint. Even after the scene was shot, I didn’t get up — I was still waiting for the director to shout ‘cut’. I remember asking in a very low tone from the floor if the scene was done and everyone started teasing me.

During the shoot for ‘Uddishya’, I got close to Iccha, another actor on the sets. We always used to have a lot of fun on the sets. We would play pranks on people and crack jokes regularly.

A role that you want to be seen in.

I would love to do a role like Kangana Ranaut’s in ‘Fashion’. I would also like to work in family-oriented stories.