When director Gautham Vasudev Menon narrated the script of Nadunisi Naigal to Sameera Reddy, she didn’t think twice before grabbing the opportunity. Now, this vivacious girl is eagerly waiting for the release of the film on February 18. “I didn’t hear the full script at once from Gautham, as he was continuously working on it. But all through, I was confident that he would do the best, as he’s one director who knows what he wants and just how to get it,” says Sameera, who was in Chennai for the promotion of the film.
This is Sameera’s second film with Gautham Menon after Vaaranam Aayiram. “I’m really grateful to Gautham for giving me a superhit film, Vaaranam Aayiram. My fans still call me Meghna (her character in Vaaranam Aayiram),” laughs the actress and adds quickly, “though In real life too, I’m more like Meghna — calm and down-to-earth.”
Talking about Nadunisi Naigal, Sameera says shooting wasn’t that easy, as it mostly took place in the nights. “The shooting would start at 7pm and go on till 4 pm. I’m completely awed at the whole’s crew’s talent, as they would shoot for Vinnaithandi Varuvaya in the mornings, and shoot again for Nadunisi Naigal in the evenings. It’s a thriller movie. I play a normal college-going girl who’s always hanging out with her boyfriend. But things change one particular night when she meets this psycho Veera only to experience the worst,” reveals Sameera. “It’s an experimental role, but I had full faith in Gautham and took up the character readily,” says Sameera. “In this new age, it’s good to constantly experiment with things,” she adds.
Talking about the shoot, she says, “In one of the scenes I was lying on the ground, mud covering my face, and four dogs constantly barking and growling at me. I was horrified, but knew that whatever I did I wouldn’t get hurt. It is something I would never ever forget. Also, in one of the scenes Veera was trying to cut my hair with a knife. I warned him, ‘Look I love my hair and if something happens to it, I will kill you,’ ” laughs the actress. Talking more about debutant Veera, Sameera says, “Gautham had confidence in Veera and I had confidence in Gautham. Veera is a born actor.”
Sameera is now doing two films in Tamil — one with Prabhu Deva opposite to Vishal and the other one being Lingusamy’s Vettai with Arya and Madhavan in the lead. The actress says she wants to try different roles and experiment with different looks. “If you look at successful yesteryear actors, you’ll see that they all tried different looks, make-up and costumes. It’s important to experiment,” she avers. It was a smooth transition for debutant Veera — from that of an assistant director to a hero, and luckily enough with the same director, Gautham Vasudev Menon. Having worked with Gautham for five years as an assistant, Veera was surprised when the director told him that he would be the hero of Nadunisi Naigal.
“And I was to play a psycho — something I had never even thought of,” smiles the actor. “After completing my engineering, I joined Gautham Menon as an assistant, and watching him narrate scripts to others was a wonderful experience,” says the debutant. “I didn’t do any particular research, as Gautham’s script had it all — from body language to dialogue delivery. So, I just did what the director asked me to.”
Veera says it wasn’t all that hard for a polite, calm person like him to play a role that demanded quite the opposite of him. After getting inspired by Kamal Haasan, the actor came to the film industry to showcase his acting prowess. Any plans to direct a movie of his own? “I have to learn a lot in direction, and right now I’m looking forward to the release of Nadunisi Naigal, before signing any projects,” he signs off.