Actress Raashi Khanna is trying to add many shades to her characters and is already making waves with her slender look in her upcoming film Tholi Prema. “I have lost about five kilos for my role– Varsha in the film. She goes through three phases of her life when she falls and fails in love successively with the same guy. As I portrayed three different looks in the film including a 19-year-old girl for the first time in my career, I’ve decided to shed some weight.”
The actress didn’t take on any special diet, but followed a natural process. “It was a slow and steady process. I did workouts in the gym and ate a good protein diet. Incidentally, Varun and I have a common trainer so we trained together to get the desired look for our characters.”Asked her if she had ever been in love, she says, “At 17, I’ve got the first taste of love and the first crush in my school. It didn’t work out though and post that experience, I never met anyone interesting. Right now, I have no time to think about love as I’m busy with my work.”
Raashi says that she played a character for which she drew a lot from her real life. “Going by my first love, I’ve found similarities between Varsha and my real self and felt this story is really close to me. Honestly, many people wished to see me in such films. The response to the trailer was rapturous and I’m confident that the audience will equally enjoy watching the film in theatres.”
The actress has raised an eyebrow on the sets when she wears glasses for one of the three looks. “My nerd look in the film became so popular that people on the sets used to call me Harry Khanna, the female version of Harry Potter. It’s a memorable and funniest experience,” recalls Raashi.Declaring that she has watched Pawan Kalyan’s Tholi Prema, Raashi is quick to play down that her film (of the same name) has no similarities with the 1998 blockbuster. “I’ve watched Pawan Kalyan’s Tholi Prema and I know how it went onto influence the youngsters of that generation. I’ve enjoyed watching that film and having said that, it’s unfair to compare both these films. I can confidently vouch for you that the setting and story of both the films are completely different.”
Heaping praise on director Venky Atluri, she says, “He is completely understanding and has a lot of patience. He lived with the script for two years and he explored it in all possible ways (smiles).”
The 27-year-old actress reveals that she was surprised by her co-star Varun Tej’s dedication. “He is a workaholic and he has put in sincere efforts in the film. Although he doesn’t like to harp on it, his hard work is evident on screen.”
Raashi, who’s familiar with the language rues not being able to do the dubbing for this film. “I was keen to do it myself. But, the director wanted 10 days of call sheets to get it done separately. I couldn’t do it as I was already shooting for a film with Jayam Ravi in Tamil. Hopefully, I try to fulfill this wish with my next Telugu film.”
muralikrishna.db@newindianexpress @onlymurali