I'm happiest about the guitar lessons: Nikitha

Nikitha Narayan, who has made a mark in Telugu, and had her Kannada debut with Vinay Preetham's 2016 movie Madamakki, says her second movie in Sandalwood required a makeover that tested her patience. But she is not all complaining because working on Yogaraj Bhat’s Mugulu Nage, starring Ganesh, was a "unique experience."
 
She says it was not a routine shoot where one would just go to the sets and face the camera without much preparation. Nikitha had to go out of her way to get into character. She got temporary tattoos, coloured her hair and drove around a vintage 1956 model car in Puducherry. Aside from this, the actress also learned to strum the guitar for the film. 

"Though colouring my hair tested my patience, what got me hooked to the role was the guitar lessons," she says. "Bhatru had informed me one-a-half months before the shoot that I need to learn guitar because my role required it. I took it seriously and signed up for classes, which came in handy. Moreover, I've always wanted to learn the guitar and I got an opportunity to finally do it because of Mugulu Nage." 

The actress comes from a musical family. "Music has been in the family for generations," she says. "My grandpa YN Subbarao was a musician and a known name in KV Mahadevan's troupe. I am glad that I could learn the guitar as part of my job and I will complete the course."

Nikitha, who has worked in around five films in Telugu and now two in Kannada, says she was happy to try her hand at dubbing in her voice for Mugulu Nage. "I dubbed for the first time and it was a very tough job," she says. "First because you have to replicate the entire mood of the scenes, recalling how it was from the shoot. Voice is very important because it can tarnish your acting or take it to a whole new level. Also, your original voice and what comes through the mic are very different. So I was told to try first to see if my voice fits the role, and then, after the trial, I was allowed to go ahead. I learnt all of this during the process of dubbing."

Mugulu Nage runs on seven stories with Ganesh and Nikitha doing a part, the film also features Apoorva and Ashika Narayan with Amulya playing an important role.The film has music by V Harikrishna and cinematography by Sugnan.