Amrutha Iyengar: Dhananjay is like an institution

Amrutha Iyengar had only planned to do one film in her career and get back to pursuing her Psychology studies. However, destiny had other plans. “First, I had an offer from director Suri, which I just could not reject. Then came Love Mocktail, and Shivarjuna. Right now, I have WindowSeat, Family Pack at different stages of production, and Badava Rascal, which is up for release on December 24. Since my career was taking off in a good way, I decided to give up on my studies, and focus on what best I can do here,” Amurtha tells us.

Amrutha feels that her patience has finally paid off. “After two lockdowns, and a long wait, I get to see three of my films releasing in the next few months,” says Amrutha, adding, “Badava Rascal is very close to my heart. All of us involved in the project have a personal connection with the film. The response we got for the Udupi Hotel song too was reassuring. People, who would connect me with Love Mocktail, would go on to establish me as the Badava Rascal heroine.”

The actor plays Sangeetha, a politician’s daughter, and the difficulty she faces when she falls in love with a middle-class boy. “My character undergoes a transition, which is also the turning point of the film. I had to mentally prepare to play these episodes, and the team had worked on a particular look for me, which will work out with the audiences,” she says.

To be associated with her good friend, and actor Dhananjay, who is also the producer of Badava Rascal, Amrutha says, “I accepted this film but never asked for details about my role. I was confident that Dhananjay would come up with a good film because this was his first production venture.  His professional journey, and what he has seen in life, apart from films inspire me.  For me, Dhananjay is like an institution, and every time we meet, I have something to learn from him. I am glad that I got the opportunity to work with him on two films.”  Amrutha also had a few words to say about debutant director, Shankar. “The dialogues penned by director Shankar were realistic and candid.”

Recalling memories of the Badava Rascal shooting,  Amrutha says that the Srinagara area in Bengaluru more or less became a film city for the team. “Every day, we would have a conversation with local auto drivers, cab drivers, street vendors when they shared their experiences, and those were the best part of Badava Rascal for me.”