It has been an exceptional start to the year for Rakul Preet Singh. Having arrived as a successful model in 2011, the Delhi girl took Tollywood by storm with a series of high-profile films opposite Telugu superstars. Given her army background, the actress is extremely confident as she speaks about her latest entertainer Sarrainodu, which has opened to packed cinema halls this Friday.
“Usually, in each character of mine in every film, there’s a part of it that I can relate to. For the first time, there is no similarity between my character and the real me. So it was quite challenging for me to pull off. I play a village girl and while my role is quite small, it certainly has an impact on the way the film pans out,” says Rakul.
The actress shares screen space with one of Tollywood’s finest dancers, Allu Arjun, in Sarrainodu and Rakul is all praise for her co-star. “He’s a terrific dancer. He has no bones in his body—he’s that flexible. Working with Allu Arjun has helped me address my limitations as a dancer. I practice hard and I manage in the end, but when I see the way Allu dances, I strive to get better,” says the 25-year-old.
While the film, which released on April 22, opened well at the box-office, Rakul has been criticised for her choice of role as she’s been given limited scope to shine. Given that Tollywood directors are notorious for reducing their heroines to glam dolls in inconsequential roles, Rakul says people shouldn’t judge a performance based only on screen time. “We are making films that the audience wants too. One mustn’t judge a character or an actress based on how long she’s there on screen. Obviously in commercial films such as this one, the hero will have a bigger part to play. But that doesn’t mean the women have nothing to do in it. Both mine and Catherine’s (Tresa, co-actress) characters have a lot of depth to it,” she says.
Director Boyapati Sreenu, who is known to deliver mass masala films, returns to the helm with this film after the 2014 blockbuster, Legend. Rakul says Boyapati is a man who’s clear about what he wants and that she completely surrendered to his vision for the film. “When he first came to me with the script, I thought ‘this is a kind of film that I don’t watch’, but the conviction with which he went about narrating the script convinced me instantly to take up the role,” says Rakul.
Despite back-to-back flops in Kick 2 and Bruce Lee in 2015, the actress continued to rise high in the industry. Her recent film Nannaku Prematho opposite NTR Jr is one of the biggest hits of the year so far.
Rakul has also settled well in Hyderabad, and has started her own gym, F-45, in Gachibowli. “Luck, destiny and hard work,” quips the actress, when asked about the secret to her success.
Despite her considerable success in recent times, Rakul understands the importance of staying level-headed, especially at a time when young actresses find it difficult to deal with the pressures of showbiz. Citing the Pratyusha Banerjee incident, Rakul says, “It’s very hard for us to deal with the media scrutiny, rumours and cameras. Even a top actress like Deepika Padukone had opened up about depression, about crying in her make-up room. Sometimes, when you’re in the spotlight, people tend to forget that you have private lives. The best way to deal with it is to enjoy the work you do. I go out with friends and try to lead a normal life and be myself when I’m off-screen,” says Rakul.
Up next, the actress has her hands full with Thani Oruvan remake opposite Ram Charan and Gopichand Mallineni’s film with Sai Dharam Tej (both starting in May), yet another with Sreenu, and a Tamil film.