BENGALURU: Actor Iti Acharya has her eyes set on the international market with her latest venture Love Her Too Much by international rapper Merlin Babaji, better known for Vibes and Run the City. The song, which is produced by the city girl along with being a part of it, was launched at Times Square on March 20.
This is the second time that Acharya’s work has been on the Times Square billboards, but the actor says the euphoria is still the same. “It was the second time I was seeing myself on the billboards of Times Square. The first time was for a fashion brand. Since it is the second time, I thought I was used to the excitement, but it was still surreal when I saw myself on the board. I can never get used to the feeling.
And this time it was a bigger billboard so the excitement was different,” says a visibly excited Acharya.
The song is sung by American rapper, Merlin Babaji, who Acharya got in touch with through her brother. “My brother graduated from Berklee College of Music. Since I have also lived in the USA, I know some people in the music fraternity. Merlin was one such. I came across his work and found him interesting. So I thought why not collaborate,” says Acharya.
The actor describes Babaji to be quite ‘shy’. “He is not into making music videos and promotions. He has a very niche following. When I suggested collaborating, he suggested I sing. I just laughed it off. But on a serious note, I just thought I should give it a try,” he says.
Working in the Kannada film industry, Acharya says it was not easy for her to break into the American music industry. “I am already an actor in India and have seen the fandom here. I have been networking with a lot of different international entertainment industries. That’s what my visit to the Cannes Film Festival was all about. Now you might see so many Indian faces in international film festivals but when I started it some four-five years ago, it was big,” says Acharya, adding many were surprised that she is not focusing on her already-established career and instead, trying to start afresh.
Currently, Acharya is working on the logistics of getting the video to India. “At the moment, the video is out in the US. After it hit the billboards, we got a great response. So rather than just a regular release, we are thinking of releasing it with a music label, for which I am in talks already,” says Acharya, adding if things work out, then the video will be out in India this weekend. On the movie front, she will be seen in a Kannada movie, King & Queen, and is acting and co-producing an independent English-Hindi movie.