On the first day of the Charlie Chaplin sequel’s shoot in Goa, Nikki learned that for a scene, she would have to carry the film’s hero, Prabhudheva, on her back. After the initial shock, she eventually figured she would try and pull it off. “We were shooting for a song, and I was very excited about the idea when Jani master told me this. Usually, we only see heros carrying the heroines; so it was fun to surprise everyone with this idea!” she says, laughing.

Prabhudheva though was a bit apprehensive about how the shot would take place. But in one swift move, Nikki put his hand on her shoulder and lifted him off his feet. “The whole idea was to do it spontaneously. We had to do a few retakes for technical reasons. Prabhudheva master panicked a few times! But at the end of the shot, he complimented me for my strength.”

It cost a few sore muscles though, she says. “But it wore off soon, and  we even repeated this shot for the film’s poster,” she says.

The film also stars veteran actor Prabhu, who plays her father in the film. “Prabhu uncle  knows me well as I have done two films with Vikram Prabhu. We used to gorge on the home food Vikram got on the sets. So for this film too, there was a lot of tasty food on offer. He made sure everyone in the unit ate his home-cooked food and only after everyone did would he start eating.”

She mentions the meen kozhambu as her favourite. “I may just have put on a bit of weight after this schedule,” she says.