'It's hard to say no to a Bejoy Nambiar film'

Neha Sharma agreed to star in Solo immediately after Bejoy Nambiar finished his narration. "When talking about a character in an upcoming film, actors generally say it's an unusual role etc. I'm going to tell you the same because the story is really so unusual. I was mindblown by his narration."

The actress made her debut in Telugu cinema almost ten years ago with Puri Jagannadh's Chirutha. "Not many know that I made my debut with a Telugu film. I studied fashion at the National Institute of Fashion Designing in New Delhi, and never thought about films. As I wasn't comfortable with Telugu, I moved to Bollywood. When you know the language, you can give your hundred per cent," she says. 

Then, why did she accept Solo considering she knows neither Tamil nor Malayalam? "It's hard to say no to a Bejoy Nambiar film. I've always liked his work. We were supposed to do a film sometime ago but that didn't materialise," she says.

When Bejoy told her the story originally, Neha didn't realise that the plan was to make an anthology with four stories and consequently, four separate actresses. "But it's okay. These things don't bother me," she says.

Solo marks Neha's return to South cinema, and naturally, she's excited. "It takes a lot of guts to do an anthology film like Solo. Bejoy has unique sensibilities as a director. Dulquer Salmaan, meanwhile, is a director's actor," says Neha, who shot for about twelve days for the film.

She plays Akshara, a college-going girl. "My character speaks only in Tamil and that's how Bejoy conceived it. The track that features Dulquer and I is a fierce love story. Both characters have many differences, and that actually makes the story interesting," she says. 

Neha feels she could have dubbed for herself in the film. "Though I didn't dub for my character, I had to learn my Tamil lines. Bejoy was particular about my dialogue delivery. If people appreciate my performance, all the credit should only go to him," she adds. 

She is a big fan of Mani Ratnam. "I watched OK Kanmani, and only after that was I tempted to work with Dulquer. Slowly, I hope to do more regional films," she says.

Even though she confesses to being a big fan of the Kaatru Veliyidai promos, she couldn't catch the film. "I really should start watching more films!" she says. 'There's a small similarity between Kaatru Veliyidai and Solo. "A defence guy falls in love," she smiles.

A big fan of romantic films, Neha grew up on Shah Rukh Khan films. "Dil Se and Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge are my favorites. Someday, I hope to share screen space with SRK," she says.