After establishing herself in Kannada cinema through rather non-conventional roles, it does make sense that Chaithra J Achar’s Tamil debut follows similar lines. Chaithra, whose performance in Sapta Sagaradaache Ello-Side B (SSE-Side B) made head turns even in Tamil Nadu, is set to make her Tamil debut with director Sri Ganesh's 3 BHK, and it took just one scene for her to come on board the project. “It was a beautiful exchange between my character and Siddharth’s. A Tamil friend read it out to me, and I was moved. I immediately called Sri Ganesh and said, ‘I’ll come prepared for this scene. Watch me perform, and then decide.” She impressed the filmmaker enough for him to say, "You're the Aishu I had in mind," and Chaithra's Tamil debut was ready.

Little is disclosed about Chaithra’s character Aishwarya in the trailer of 3BHK, and Chaithra says that her role has been intentionally kept under wraps. “Aishwarya is a layered character who might come across as simple, composed, and calm. She doesn’t show much emotion and responds to situations with balance and maturity,” says Chaithra, who is not new to playing such roles. She has played a girl affected by cerebral palsy in Gilky, and a sex worker in SSE-Side B. However, Chaithra reveals that the seemingly straightforward role of Aishu was quite challenging. “Aishu’s neutrality is very different from who I am. I react to everything, and that contrast is exactly why I took up the role. I’m an extremely hyperactive and extroverted person; people say I can even make a stone talk. I’ve always been confident, even as a child. So, playing a calm, composed character like Aishwarya meant I had to completely curb my natural energy and tone everything down. That was a big challenge,” she shares with a laugh.

Another challenge that came her way in 3BHK was to get a grasp on a new language. “Tamil isn’t my mother tongue. I had to focus on getting the language right, memorising lines, and still emoting naturally, all without letting it show that I was thinking about the words,” explains Chaithra, who has also dubbed for herself in the film. “I dubbed for both Tamil and Telugu versions of 3BHK, and I credit Siddharth for that. He really encouraged me and said that it would elevate my performance and help me connect better with the audience.”

In her fledgling career, Chaithra has brought something different to the table with every character, and it is an image that she is consciously constructing. “If someone offers me a similar role to Aishwarya, I’ll say no. It’s not easy to turn down work, especially with the kind of money and names involved. But I’ve always been clear about the kind of filmography I want to build. Even before I started acting, I was a very organised person. Whether it’s choosing clothes or films, I don’t make random choices. I know what I want, and I stick to it. Of course, I might do similar roles at some point; there are only so many characters an actor can play, but I won’t do them back-to-back.”

While her thirst for exploration might be never-ending, these roles do not come without their need for meticulous preparation. “The mechanical process, like reading a script, remains the same for every character. But when it comes to body language and internalising a role, that’s where the deeper work begins,” says Chaithra. Take, for example, Gilky, where she started with the basics and learned the difference between a disease and a disorder. “I did my research: met doctors, watched documentaries, read about the condition, not just what’s visible, but what happens inside the body to create those reactions,” she explains.

The process to become Surabhi from SSE-Side B was a little different. “For the role of a sex worker, I spoke to 10–15 women, including those from an organisation run by sex workers themselves. I asked them personal questions, and they were incredibly open,” shares Chaithra, who strongly believes that playing these diverse roles has taught her to chip away at her biases. “One of the most important lessons I’ve learned is that you can’t judge your character, not even if they’re playing someone negative. If you say, "This person is wrong," you can't do full justice to the role. Even a murderer believes they’re right, and as an actor, you need to believe it too, without judgment,” she elucidates.

That willingness to dive into complex, layered characters also extends to scenes that require her to be emotionally and physically vulnerable. Speaking about taking up the role of a sex worker in the early stages of her career, Chaithra shares, “I’m a very adamant person. If I decide to do something and someone says I can’t, it pushes me harder to prove them wrong. When I was offered SSE, the director was upfront about the intimate scene. He didn't want me to be uncomfortable. I appreciated that honesty." While she hadn’t imagined taking on such a role so early in her career, speaking to her family put her at ease. “My brother told me, ‘Are you stupid? They could cast anyone across India for this role, especially opposite Rakshit Shetty,” she laughs. “Then my mom walked in, and we posed it as a hypothetical. She thought for a moment and said, ‘Opportunities like this don’t come to everyone. If she doesn’t do it, someone else will. Let my daughter do it.” That support, Chaithra says, changed everything. “Even if she had said no, I probably would have gone ahead. But when she said yes and backed me fully, my confidence became unshakable. I could perform the scene wholeheartedly, with no doubt or hesitation.”

Up next, in Tamil, Chaithra will be seen in Raju Murugan’s My Lord starring alongside Sasikumar. Giving us an update on the film, Chaithra says, “We’ve finished shooting for My Lord. We're aiming for a release by the end of this year.” Unlike 3BHK, My Lord features her in a rural character. “It was quite the shift—from being a Bengaluru girl to playing a Kovilpatti village girl. The dialect, body language, and even the walking and dressing style—all of it was new,” she reveals.

Circling back to her decision to debut in Tamil with a rather simple film, Chaithra says that it's never about gravitas for her. “I’ve always chosen films based on the script. It’s never been about the scale of the production or the popularity of the director. That approach hasn’t changed, even now. The choices I made earlier have shaped my journey, and I believe continuing that way will take me further,” she signs off.