Sonal Monteiro, who came into the industry with zero expectations, feels blessed about the way her career has shaped up. “I got into the films to fulfill my mother’s dream. All I wanted was to do a few films and move on. But with interesting projects coming up, my mom’s dream has become my passion. My graph is only increasing, and I hope this continues,” says Sonal Monteiro, ahead of the release of her upcoming film, Banaras.
The 15-films-old actor, who has tried to raise the bar with every project, asserts that Jayathirtha’s Banaras will further elevate her career. “Being my first pan-India film, Banaras will help me get an audience in other industries too. So, it has become an important film in my career, and I hope it might take me one step higher, However, it all depends on November 4 when the film releases,” she says.
Sonal, who got to work with directors like Yogaraj Bhat and Tharun Kishore Sudhir in her career, reveals that Jayathirtha was a name on her bucket list, especially after seeing his work in Bell Bottom. “Going by Jayathirtha’s movies, I always knew he valued the heroines and gave them equal space in his films. I trusted him blindly, and my expectations just became higher after the narration. Banaras has so many genres, and everything has been well-packaged into one film that has the best director, best story, best crew, and a solid production house.
Sonal reveals that Banaras has her play a subtle character, which itself was a challenge to her because it was unlike her previous roles. “When I first met Jayathirtha he mentioned that I should be real and not act in front of the camera. To face the camera, and not act isn’t easy. I play a de-glam role, which also has a strong message at the centre of it all. My role will connect with everyone, especially women,” she says.
Admitting her initial hesitation about working with newcomer Zaid Khan, Sonal says that her opinion changed after working with him. “Working with newcomers never mattered to me because I was once a newcomer too. But with Zaid, I did have second thoughts because he was from a political family, and I didn’t know how serious he was with his film career. Initially, we spoke very less but everything changed during the shooting,” says Sonal, adding,
“If I have to talk about his performance, he definitely doesn’t come across as a newcomer. I was stunned by his homework so much that he had not only his dialogues penned, but also had mine and Achyuth Kumar Sir’s dialogues written in his book with different colour pens. I have not come across a co-star, who knows his co-actors dialogues by heart. They say ‘never judge a book by its cover’, but I did it, and my opinion definitely changed. He is a good human being, and we are good friends today,” says Sonal.
Sonal is happy to be one of the busiest actors in the Kannada industry. While she waits for the release of Sugar Factory, she is currently juggling between Garadi with hero Yashas Surya, and the Sarojini Naidu biopic. She also has Talwarpete with Vashista Simha, Maadeva starring Vinod Prabhakar, and Buddhivantha 2. She also signed a new film, Operation U, which is set to take off soon. “With no expectations, I’m happy to have come this far. Be it small films or big films, all I want to do is just work,” she signs off.