ACT-1978 will be the first fresh Kannada film release post the lockdown, and Yajna Shetty hopes that the hostage thriller directed by Mansore will bring back people to theatres, and start the celebration for cinema again. The actor is currently in Mumbai after her wedding, and says while she is enjoying her time in the city, she is also missing Mangaluru.
Yajna plays an intriguing character in the film, and she had impressed the viewers with the first look itself, that showed her as a pregnant woman surrounded by a human bomb with a gun in hand. The story will now unfold on Nov. 20, when the film gets released. Yajna says she was approached by Mansore for the project when she was not ready to sign any film for some time owing to her personal commitments. However, she could not refuse it after listening to the narrative by the director.
“When he approached me, I expressed my inability to take up the project, but he insisted that I listen to the story once. When it was narrated, I did not want to go back. The story line appeared very interesting and intriguing to me. There is no way I would not have done it, so I decided to sign up and manage the dates,” says Yajna, adding, “The team scheduled the entire shooting according to my convenience. I am glad to be a part of an amazing story.”
Yajna says the film’s content is the main key to draw the audience, and that has been the case since its poster was released. “People said it looks very different, and is something to watch out for. Even if I were an audience, this content would have pushed me to watch it on the silver screen,” she says.Yajna is considered someone who never wanted to fall into a comfort zone, and talking about her zeal to experiment, she says, “After I did Eddelu Manjunatha, everyone thought I was good at expressing emotions. I was tagged as ‘no make-up actor’ and a ‘one-take artiste’.
In a way, it turned out to be a blessing. Filmmakers as well as the audience thought I am a serious actor, and they had the confidence that I could pull off any difficult role. Even Mansore felt I could shoulder this character in entirety, and he was keen to cast me.” She feels that while doing commercial subjects may get boring after a point, such characters remain in the viewer’s mind. “When you go down memory lane, you feel proud that you have chosen such subjects, and roles that are difficult to perform. ACT-1978 is a film that is close to reality and I hope that I live up to everyone’s expectations,” she says.
For Yajna, Mansore comes across as a director with sensibility, especially in the way he handles the subject and executes it. “He is a man of few words, but he makes sure the shot is taken the way he visualises it,” she says, pointing out that the script is the hero in the film. “I also feel that the makers have brought in a suitable cast to the story, including the roles of hostages, police and politicians, which are all played by well-known artistes. Act-1978 is about one person’s struggle which many people will relate with. There is not a single person who has not stepped in a government office, and the film will have the audience thinking about how our system runs,” she says.
Marriage and lockdown has given her a break from films, and she hopes that good stories come her way now. “ I am not the heroine who is running behind numbers to stay in the film industry, and I have the patience to wait to be a part of a good project. At present, I am looking forward to the audience’s reaction to ACT-1978,” she says.