She’s four films old in the short while that she’s been around. After recent releases Pon Malai Pozhudhu and Mathapoo, the young heroine, Gayathrie is looking forward to a bright innings with two more films in hand. Speaking to CE, she spills the beans on her two diverse roles. “I play a village girl from the 80s in Rummy,” says Gayathrie. This is the actor’s second film with Vijay Sethupathy, after Naduvala Koncham Pakathu Kaanom, even though they are not paired together this time.
“Inigo is my pair, while Aishwarya is cast opposite Vijay. When I joined the unit, Vijay was the only familiar face. He introduced me to Inigo and Soori and I got to meet and interact with Soori’s wife and kids on the sets. The camaraderie was fun,” she smiles. So how did she prepare to play an 80s girl? “My director Balakrishnan was my guide. He told me to watch films like Mudhal Mariyadhai and Thevar Magan to see how the girls talked and behaved back then. I would do a lot of rehearsals before coming on the set each day,” she discloses.
The actor seems to have enjoyed her stint as a village belle.
She laughs, “I loved wearing the pavadai dhavani but I struggled to learn how to wear it for two days! We had to call a costumer on the set to teach me finally! I hardly wear saris off screen so it was a learning experience. But I enjoyed it so much, I wore a pavadai dhavani to the Vijay TV awards function recently!” In Ula, Gayathrie is playing one of the many characters along with newbie Nandan, Ajmal, Ashok, Radhika Apte, Priya Banerjee, Vidharth and Niveditha.
Throwing light on her film she says, “There are no wholly positive or negative characters. Everyone comes in shades of grey. The story is about the chain of events that follow when Nandan and I decide to elope. The story happens in 24 hours. That one event changes the lives of so many different people from various walks of life.” Seventy per cent of the film has been completed. Summing up her journey so far, the 22-year-old says, “I came as a blank slate to cinema. Thanks to my directors, I’ve learnt on the job. I thought the magic of cinema may wear off slowly, but its only increasing everyday !”