Srinidhi Shetty, who rose to limelight with her debut in the KGF franchise and then in the Nani-starrer Hit 3, is playing one of the leads in the upcoming film, Telusu Kada. She shares the screen with Siddu Jonnalagadda and Raashii Khanna in the new-age romance, directed by Neerraja Kona. During a recent media interaction, the Hit 3 actor spoke about her working experience in Telusu Kada, her favourite genre of films, and more.
Recalling her first narration for Telusu Kada, Srinidhi says, “When one sees a boy and two girls on the poster, everyone assumes it to be a love triangle. But there is one particular angle which is new here... one small unique point Neerraja touches upon. When I first heard it, I thought I should definitely be a part of this.” When asked if she could relate to her character, Raaga, in the film, Srinidhi said, “There are some moments where Raaga does things what Srinidhi would do. But otherwise, there are some shades of grey to this character here — and I cannot function in grey shades. I cannot operate in between.”
During their promotions so far, the whole team of Telusu Kada has been very discreet and careful about not revealing the major plot point. Srinidhi says, “I won’t say that Telusu Kada is only intense in its tone. There is comedy, and humour. It’s a romantic drama, but you will walk out with a mixture of emotions.” Srinidhi also asserts that there is no element of preachiness here. “We are not here to school anybody. You can take away whatever you want from this film,” she adds.
Srinidhi also clarifies that she heard the Telusu Kada story much before Hit 3 was brought to her. However, Hit 3 went on floors earlier because there was a gap of 1 year between script narration and shooting for Telusu Kada, where the team decided to do a bit of creative reworking. It was a few days before the Telusu Kada shoot was scheduled to begin that Srinidhi suggested an idea to do something different stylistically for her character. She explains, “I have mostly worn traditional attire like kurta or sarees in my previous films. So this time, I was keen on doing something else, styling wise. That’s where the idea of bangs came, too.”
For Srinidhi, Telusu Kada will mark a major departure after actioners like KGF and Hit 3. Srinidhi says that she has always had a strong affinity for romantic films. She adds, “I am at a romantic at heart. This is my favourite genre, especially films that deal with heartbreak and brief. As an artist, you get more scope to perform." Mentioning Sapta Sagardaache Ello as one of her favourites in the genre, Srinidhi says, “I want to do more love stories in the future.”
Telusu Kada will arrive in theatres on October 17.