There comes a time for every heroine when she has to give up her glam quotient and do more real characters. Deepa Sannidhi has got one such opportunity in her upcoming film Chakravarthy, directed by Chinthan. The actress is back with Darshan for the second time after Sarathy.
Deepa, in a conversation with City Express, says she is happy to do a de-glam role. “De-glam roles allow an actor to focus on the character, and takes their attention away from their appearance, which is not the case with commercial films,” she says. “In case of Chakravarthy, in which I play the role of Shanthi, Chinthan was particular that I look real.”
Deepa felt a certain resistance to her new avatar. “They called me Gowramma for my traditional look,” she says. “But I went by what the director wanted. He was very particular that the glam quotient is underplayed, and I have followed that instruction with all sincerity,” says Deepa, who also found playing an older person challenging.
“It is not about the appearance or putting on weight. I had to think like a person who is older than me by 2 years, and act and feel that way. Thankfully, I could imagine that maturity and the cotton sarees helped with the appearance,” she says.
But Deepa does not agree that only de-glam roles have scope for performance, and says it is a false notion. “It is always driven by the director’s vision and the story,” she says. “Ultimately it is their call how they want the character to be. Glam or de-glam, we have a role to play.”
She also does not go looking for out-of-the-box roles. “I don’t think of tommorrow when I take up roles,” she says. “People have branded me as a ‘commercial heroine’ and have decided that I work only with top heroes. So it is rare that filmmakers approach me for de-glam roles. But I would love to do roles like I have been offered in Chakravarthy. I consider this chance a boon.”
The actress started her career with Darshan in Sarathy and is now to work with him for the second time. Deepa says, “When I started, I was wary and nervous seeing so many men on the sets and the bright lights, I was not familiar with long shots.
Then Darshan was kind and patient and explained the technicalities to me, he helped build my confidence. This time our chemistry works better on screen, especially in the romantic scenes. However, he made sure that I was comfortable. For Darshan too, this approach to a romantic story is a first and we worked together to pull this off.”