It’s been over three years since the audience got to see Shanvi Srivatsava on the silver screen. After a long sabbatical, The Avane Srimannarayana, the heroine is back in action with the horror film Kasturi Mahal. The 50th film of veteran director Dinesh Baboo is slated to hit the theatres this week.
Ahead of the film’s release on May 13, Shanvi talks about the reason for the ‘break’ from Kannada cinema, her liking for horror subjects, working with the senior director, and more. She feels that the pandemic has changed the way the entertainment industry works today. “I didn’t see any new or big films going on floors during the pandemic.
All the films that got released now, were already in the making during that time. More importantly, there is a rumour in the industry that I work only in big films, this is a prime reason why a lot of directors didn’t approach me. I want to go with good directors and scripts rather than a scale of the film. However, my formula has always been having one commercial project in hand, regardless of language, before signing a content or women-oriented script.”
About Kasturi Mahal, a film that she took up post the first wave of the pandemic, she says, “Horror has always been my favourite genre. I started my Kannada film journey with a horror film, Chandralekha, and after 7 years, Kasturi Mahal has allowed me to revisit it.”
The actor adds that the script was good, and she believed that senior directors like Dinesh Baboo bring more authenticity to the genre. “New age directors usually try to mix comedy or other elements with horror. So I went ahead with the subject conceived by a veteran director. The making of Kasturi Mahal might be a little old school, but I believe it will be nice. I am yet to watch the film on the silver screen,” says Shanvi, who mentioned that there are a lot of aesthetics in this horror film. “There is not much bloodshed and extreme violence. But the film retains its core horror feel.”
She draws comparisons Dinesh Baboo and the young upcoming filmmakers. “I saw a huge difference between a proven director and new-age filmmakers, who are surrounded by huge competition. The director, who is doing his 50th film, had a lot of clarity. While there are directors who take 10 different shots, and here is a director, who would just finish it with one shot. Even though I had my doubts, he was confident. Experience matters!”
Shanvi shares that her next film Bang too is experimental and it will be out in June. She is also looking forward to the release of her Malayalam debut, Mahaveeryar, which is slated for a July release. “I have been getting a lot of offers from the Malayalam industry. But I want to wait for Mahaveeryar to release as that will pave my way to interesting scripts. The Malayalam film might also open doors for me in Tamil.
A couple of Hindi filmmakers, who have seen the rushes of Mahaveeryar have got in touch with me. Everything is at the preliminary stages. There are a few projects, to which I agreed to be a part, but I’m yet to make it official,” says Shanvi, who signs off by saying, “The audience still believes in me. They are still curious about my projects and this urges me to do better. 2022 has been a fresh start, and I want to make the best use of it and keep doing good films.